ALPHARETTA, Ga. — A woman's attempt to stop a car break-in suspect in Alpharetta ended with her injured, police told Channel 2 Action News.
Katrina Maloney said she spotted the suspect, Preston Heaver, crouched near her car in a parking lot off Windward Parkway on Jan. 25 after she picked up dinner.
"(I) thought maybe he was tying his shoe or the owner of the vehicle next to mine," Maloney told Channel 2's Mike Petchenik.
“I noticed the phone was no longer glowing in its charging holster and the gentleman is walking away from both of our vehicles trying to put multiple things underneath his jacket.”
Maloney told Petchenik that she chased Heaver down and confronted him.
“In front of two other witnesses, I demanded (that) he return my phone, as well as any other items he may have taken from my car, and he immediately panicked and hands me my cellphone, as well as my business debit card,” she said.
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Maloney said Heaver profusely apologized as she dialed 911.
“He kept saying, ‘I didn’t mean it. I didn’t mean it.’ I informed him the police are on their way. Please just wait. Let’s just settle this now. They’re either going to get you at home, or get you here. Save them the trouble,” Maloney said.
She said Heaver got into car, and as she took pictures of his license plate, he backed into her two times
“It was a lot of adrenaline. I still can’t believe he tried to flee. I’m still in shock he backed into me. Thankfully, I wasn’t hurt more than I was,” Maloney said.
Police told Petchenik they used the pictures of Heaver’s license plate to link him to the crime and identify him.
He’s been charged with aggravated assault and entering auto.
“We always ask that you don’t confront these individuals by yourself,” Officer Jason Muenzer, with the Alpharetta Police Department, said. “You never know what their intentions are.”
Maloney said she didn’t think twice about getting her phone and the pictures on it back.
“Maybe next time he would have hurt somebody more, or hell, if he had been armed, maybe somebody would unnecessarily be shot over a phone they can’t use or a debit card I could have instantly shut off,” she said.
Heaver remained in the Fulton County Jail Thursday without a bond.
“I want to see them prosecute him to the maximum,” said Maloney. “It’ll either force him to get the help he needs … he needs help.”
Cox Media Group
