Jan 14, 2009 4:04 am US/Central
Phony Utility Worker Scams Elderly Woman
HOBART, Ill. (Sun-Times Media Wire) ―
An 82-year-old woman apparently is the latest victim in a string of scams targeting elderly people for so-called "distraction burglaries."
On Wednesday, a man posing as a NIPSCO worker approached the woman at her recycling bin in the alley behind her house in the 1200 block of West Ridge Road.
The man - dressed in an orange safety vest, white hard hat and carrying a notebook and clipboard on which he had written "NIPSCO," told the woman he needed to check the water meter in her basement. The man led the woman into the house, where they were greeted by her small dog. The man said they needed to go into the basement to reach the meter, and asked the woman to bring her dog into the basement with her.
In the basement, he began striking her water meter with a hammer, and instructed her to hit the meter and the electrical circuit breaker boxes in the basement for several minutes. After several minutes, he took a call on his cell phone and said they could go back upstairs.
After the man left, the woman noticed several suitcases had been rifled, her bedroom ransacked and $1,000 missing from her purse.
The suspect is described as a Hispanic male, short and heavyset and wearing glasses.
Police are investigating a string of similar burglaries in town during the past 12 months, including one in which the suspects reportedly stole $150,000, the life savings of their 90-year-old victim.
(Source: Sun-Times Media Wire © Chicago Sun-Times 2009. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
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