Police searching for thief who held up man in parking deck of Atlanta airport

ATLANTA — Atlanta police investigators are searching for a thief they believe robbed a man at gunpoint inside a parking deck at the Atlanta airport.

Police gave Channel 2 Action News video from a nearby Target store where police say the criminal used the victim's credit card.

Channel 2's Alyssa Hyman sat down with the victim's wife, who said she felt panic when she learned her husband was robbed.

“I got a text message at work from a phone number I didn't know saying, 'I’ve been robbed at gunpoint.' I thought it was a scam,” said Maya Callaghan.

The robbery happened inside a parking deck at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport around 5 p.m. about two weeks ago.

Callaghan told Hyman that her husband had just landed after a work trip, walked over to the daily lot and was putting his bags in the car when the robber came up to him.

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“He saw a shadow and immediately felt a gun to his chest,” Callaghan said.

She said the criminal forced him to hand over his wallet and phone.

“(He said,) 'Give me your phone now and open it.'"

Once the phone was unlocked, Callaghan said the robber made her husband change his password, giving the thief access to all his apps, including his Uber account.

That’s how she says the criminal was able to get to Target, where police said he bought $1,000 in gift cards.

“Even though I was able to cancel all the cards, they were still trying to get into our bank account. They tried to get into his Skymiles account several times, and they changed the password,” Callaghan said.

Fortunately, Callaghan said she and her husband have been able to stay one step ahead of the thief, but now she wants to warn others about what happened and told Hyman she wants to see more security in the airport parking lots.

"You just feel like you're in a safe place where there's so many people that you would just never think …
Your guard is down because it's the airport and you feel like you're safe," Callaghan said.

Hyman contacted airport officials to see if they had anything to say about the safety and security in the parking garages, but they referred her back to Atlanta police.

Cox Media Group