Asian businesses in Georgia county call for action as they are targeted by burglaries
By Ryan General
Asian business owners in Gwinnett County, Georgia, are calling for collective action against an apparent trend of burglaries targeting the community in the area.
Brazen attacks: Several Asian business owners claim to have fallen victim to a string of recent burglaries which are reportedly carried out by a group of masked thieves armed with flashlights and crowbars.
In the latest attack, surveillance footage captured the culprits arriving in a black car before forcing their way into the tax preparation business Saigon Services on Pleasant Hill Road, Duluth, last Wednesday at around 5 a.m.
Targeting Asian owners: Expressing his frustration over the burglary to WSB-TV, Saigon Services owner John Dang lamented how the operation appeared to be done by individuals who are “very professional.”
Dang, who had been in contact with several other Vietnamese victims of similar attacks, believes that Asian-owned businesses are being targeted because the perpetrators assume they mostly deal primarily in cash transactions.
To mitigate the risk, Dang has limited the amount of cash kept on the premises. He also emphasized the need for business owners to speak up and work collaboratively with the police to address the issue.
“If you don’t speak up… you’re not doing anything, you know? So they keep doing it,” he was quoted saying.
Business owners’ task force: Another Asian business owner is spearheading the formation of a task force composed of other local Asian entrepreneurs in the community. The group aims to hold regular meetings with law enforcement authorities to address the security concerns of the Asian business community.
As Gwinnett County police continue to pursue leads based on owners’ statements and recovered footage, they urge anyone with information related to these crimes to come forward and assist in the ongoing investigation.
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