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Police issue warning about fake salesmen

SNELLVILLE, Ga. — Snellville police have issued a warning about a potential burglary ring posing as window salesmen.

Residents in the Brookwood Manor subdivision recently reported a group of suspicious acting people who knocked on almost every door in the neighborhood.

"He was very well dressed," said Belinda Remley about the man who approached her day one mid-afternoon.

The man was supposedly a salesman offering quotes. A bit later, Phyliss Miller got the same pitch from a younger looking woman.

"She said we just wanted to let you know there would be trucks in the area in case you see them. And I asked her for a card because it seemed kind of odd and she didn't have any," Miller told Channel 2's Tony Thomas.

That was enough for Miller, who is the homeowner's association president, to call police and notify SNAP -- the Snellville Neighborhood Alert Program -- based on Facebook.

Miller then took out after the group and tracked down another man a few streets away who she says acted even more suspiciously.

"He immediately walked into a neighbor's yard, went to the front door and tried the door knob, then he looked like he was looking for a key above the door frame, to no avail," Miller said.

Police were not able to catch up with the group before they left the area and authorities said they still aren't sure whether they were actual sales people or crooks casing homes to find out which ones were empty.

"It is possible they were there legitimately, we just don't know. They weren't wearing any sort of ID," said Snellville Police Capt. Greg Perry.

Brookwood Manor is outside Snellville's jurisdiction but close enough that the city has taken an active interest in the situation.

Police issued a lookout for the crew and are keeping residents advised through a Facebook page.

"It makes you feel violated. I mean they were scoping out my home and I didn't know it," said resident Kate Wilson.