The Great Smoky Mountain Journal

Staff, Wire Reports

Posted: Sunday, January 21, 2018 06:34 PM

String Of Alarming Cases Involving Panhandlers Prompt Knoxville Police To Beef Up Patrols

A string of alarming cases involving panhandlers prompted the Knoxville Police Department to beef up patrols and send undercover officers to Knoxville's downtown.


Since early September the Knoxville Police Department said about 10 cases of robbery or theft were reported, some near or in the State Street parking garage.

Darrell DeBusk with the Knoxville Police Department said in many of the incidents, panhandlers walked up asking for money, then robbed the people those people.

The crimes around State Street took a step beyond robbery Monday Oct. 16th when a worker of a nearby restaurant noticed his car had been stolen.

The recent thefts and robberies prompted extra caution among workers in the area and caused concern with KPD.

"We have increased patrols that a lot of people will see and other efforts that some people won't see, so there's a lot of efforts underway to identify some of these individuals we think are involved in this," said Debusk.

KPD said no arrests were made in any of the robbery or theft cases, but there were a list of individuals they planned to watch who could be responsible.


DeBusk said for workers and visitors to downtown, the best thing to do is be aware of your surroundings, walk in pairs and be cautious if someone gives you a hard luck story.

"That seems to be how these individuals are operating, they walk up say they have a sick loved one something of that nature and when you pull out your wallet that's when they try to grab the wallet and run," explained DeBusk.