MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Memphis Police took one man in to custody and recovered a stolen car at a gas station at American Way and Perkins Road. They said they arrested him in connection with a string of crimes that took place between Saturday and Tuesday.
Two victims from the same crime spree told WREG Wednesday they felt violated.
“Stay alert. Watch your surroundings,” Nakeitha Becton said.
Becton recalled the Saturday episode when she parked at a gas station on Horn Lake Road and went inside to pay.
“It was off but the keys were still in there,” she said.
One man saw that as an opportunity; she saw him jump in the driver’s seat and she ran out.
“I started beating on the car window like I was trying to break the window open,” she said.
But Becton said he took off in her silver Honda Civic with everything inside.
“My birth certificate, my driver’s license, my social security card and my credit card,” she said of the lost items.
She didn’t see her car again. But three days later, someone else did.
“I was pumping gas at the first pump,” one woman said.
She said she visits the Kroger gas station at Highland and Poplar all the time. But this time, she was on the phone and slightly distracted until someone startled her.
“There was a man reaching across my passenger seat ripping my keys out. He broke my car key, threw the rest of the keys on the ground and took off with my wallet full of cash,” she said.
She said she saw the silver Honda speed away.
Police say the same suspect then went to three other locations and robbed women in a similar fashion at each stop.
“It takes a bit of your security away when someone comes in to your car or home and they take something,” she said. “I’m so angry for the other women this has happened to.”
They’re both scarred, but have learned a few lessons.
“Definitely always going to lock my car and take all my personal belongings out of it,” she said.
“Take my keys out, lock my door. That’s what I’ll do,” Becton said.
Police haven’t confirmed whether they’re still looking for more suspects or if they’ve taken anyone else in to custody.
