Several people used sleight of hand to steal jewelry worn by women in Northern Virginia, and police in Fairfax County are asking for the public’s help in finding the suspects.
The robberies began at 1:30 p.m. on March 20 and followed a similar pattern. According to police, suspects described as women in SUVs would approach other women in parking lots, start conversations and offer them jewelry.
As the suspects placed costume jewelry on the women, they would use sleight of hand to remove the women’s real jewelry, driving off before the victims knew what happened, police said.
Troopers in Delaware detained and identified those inside the Toyota, including Cristina Milhaela Paun, 21, of Baltimore. She was then let go.
Detectives in Fairfax County said they have since identified Paun as a suspect in two of the March 20 thefts and obtained warrants for felony pickpocketing and robbery. She is wanted, and police are asking the public for information regarding her whereabouts.
The exact times and locations of each theft are listed below:
- 1:30 p.m., 6900 block of Hechinger Drive in Springfield (white SUV, Paun identified as a suspect)
- 1:30 p.m., 13900 block of Metrotech Drive in Chantilly (black SUV)
- 3:30 p.m., 12900 block of Wood Crescent Circle near Herndon (white SUV, Paun identified as a suspect)
- 3:55 p.m., 6800 block of Commerce Street in Franconia (black SUV, two suspects, described as a 50-year-old woman with red hair and gold teeth and a 25-year-old woman wearing a headscarf). Video of this incident can be seen below.