Atlanta-area Women's Health Center Burglaries Related?

The recent burglary of the Suwanee office of an OB/Gyn group that opposes an anti-abortion bill in Georgia is similar to one elsewhere in Atlanta this month.

WSB-TV has reported that the North Atlanta Women's Specialists in Sandy Springs was burglarized on Sunday, March 4, and that police are considering whether the incidents are related.

Last Saturday, , was burglarized. The center's director called it "well-planned" -- the burglar entered and left with two laptops containing member information before the alarm sounded.

Both organizations oppose HB 954, which would tighten Georgia's law on abortion.

Gwinnett Police spokesperson Ed Ritter said Tuesday that investigators will "follow up on all leads regarding this investigation and hopefully arrest the person(s) responsible for this burglary."

Sandy Springs police officer Keith Zgonc said on WSB that the incidents "might change the direction of our investigation. "We'll know we are not looking just for a burglar," he said.

The Gwinnett Police report quoted a witness as saying that a black male appearing to be in his mid- to late 30s ran out of the Georgia OB/Gyn offices wearing black gloves and carrying a black bag.

Georgia OB/Gyn Executive Director Pat Cota of Suwanee said the stolen laptops contain professional and family information for some 1,000 OB/Gyn physicians.

The bill would tighten rules for abortions performed in Georgia, and it provides criminal penalties for physicians who violate the legislation.

WSB reported that the Sandy Springs office on Peachtree-Dunwoody Road was broken into late in the evening on March 4, through a double-pane window in the office. However, the thief cut himself and left behind a trail of blood, the report said. Laptops also were stolen from this office.