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 March 4 , 2007
Purse Snatchers Know Their Turf
Amie Augenstein was chatting with friends and enjoying a vodka and tonic at a chic D.C. restaurant when she realized that something was missing: her Chanel purse.
"We got something out of my purse and within a couple minutes it was gone," said Augenstein, 32, a Texan who recently vacationed in Washington. "We didn't notice anybody walk by or take it. It was probably a professional."
Within minutes, she canceled her stolen credit cards. Good thing. In a theft a restaurant manager called a "rare occurrence," someone already had tried to ring up $400 worth of goods at a nearby drugstore.
"It's an expensive, upscale restaurant," said Augenstein, who had left her purse dangling from the back of her chair at Zaytinya, near Verizon Center. "We were shocked. I couldn't believe someone would take my purse in front of so many people. The bar was packed. There were people standing behind us."
Even so, Augenstein and other victims are often shocked by the theft of a purse inside a restaurant or club, especially an upscale one, although there were 556 reports of purse thefts or items taken from purses at both upscale and run-of-the-mill spots the past five years.
Purses are a tempting target, police say, because their owners often ignore them while out having fun. And the crowds in popular spots aren't a deterrent; they're a lure, providing cover and a quick, quiet getaway.
"The more people tracking in areas, the more potential targets" there are, said David Adams, a D.C. police detective in the 1st District.
In 2006, virtually all of the 109 purse thefts reported in restaurants and bars were in three of the city's seven police districts. The 1st District, which includes most of downtown and Capitol Hill, recorded 44 incidents, followed by 35 in the 3rd District, which includes Adams Morgan and the U Street corridor. The 2nd District, which includes Georgetown, Cleveland Park and Friendship Heights, logged 26 purse thefts.
Other parts of the city, some of which have few restaurants and clubs, reported a total of only four such incidents. The 7th Police District, which includes Anacostia, recorded one purse-snatching in a restaurant or bar last year, and the 6th District, which includes Southeast and Northeast Washington, didn't record any.
Adams said thieves often work in twos or threes.
"Typically, someone will probably use some type of distraction," he said. "Anything to draw attention."
A thief might start hollering at the hostess: "I can't believe you're going to make me wait in this line! I had reservations!"
Meanwhile, the partners in crime will survey the room, looking for unattended purses or for distracted customers whose purses are slung from chairs or are sitting on the floor.
Vanessa Rodriguez, 26, a bartender and manager at Fado Irish Pub on Seventh Street NW, was standing at the bar one night after finishing her shift when a woman asked for directions. Rodriguez's purse was at her feet.
The woman "pretty much distracted me, and my purse was gone and so were" the woman and a male companion, Rodriguez said. Outside, someone saw the couple hop into a cab.
"I was surprised it happened right in front of my face," she said. "I was surprised I fell for it."
Now, Rodriguez added, she never lets go of her purse. "I just don't set it down anymore. I don't take it off my person," she said.
Jessica Neff, 24, a law student in New York, was eating with friends at the R.F.D. Washington restaurant in the Penn Quarter neighborhood when she realized that her purse was gone from the back of her chair. After the group started searching the restaurant, someone heard a cellphone ring in the restroom. It was inside Neff's purse. But her credit cards were gone.
"They had already made one charge on the credit card in Washington for $35 at a restaurant," Neff said.
Amy Vestal, general manager at Madam's Organ, an Adams Morgan bar, said that the business installed security cameras about 18 months ago, in part to help ward off thievery. She said a purse is stolen about once every four months.
But so far, Vestal said, the cameras haven't led to any arrests.
She said employees try to look out for customers. Last summer, she said, employees who noticed two people talking to each other on a cellphone inside the bar "let them know they were being watched."
One recent night, she said, employees became suspicious of a customer who was drinking only water and who kept eyeing the hooks under the bar where people hang purses and coats.
When a woman went to the restroom, she said, the man slid onto her chair instead of a different vacant seat. They asked him to leave.
Police said they keep no statistics on arrests of purse thieves at clubs and restaurants. But Detective Sgt. John Rucker of the 2nd District said officers "catch a lot of thieves" when they use stolen credit cards or cellphones. He said investigators often pull security videos from stores to identify the thief using the stolen credit card. Or they call the numbers recently dialed on the stolen cellphone.
"Someone is going to give you up, and then we're going to put you in the big house," Rucker said of the thief. But he conceded that doesn't always happen.
"Sometimes we get the bear," he said, and "sometimes the bear gets us."
By Allan Lengel
Updated: 03/04/2007
www.washingtonpost.com
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