From Art Campos:
For the second time in a month, phony water workers have conned the elderly into letting them inside a home, where they have stolen money and other items.
The Placer County Sheriff's Department said the latest scam occurred at 9 a.m. today on Hillgrove Street in Granite Bay when two men victimized an elderly man and got away with a safe containing cash and documents.
Sheriff's spokeswoman Dena Erwin said one of the suspects told the victim that there was a water problem in the neighborhood and they needed to check his home.
The victim led the suspect through the house and into the back yard, she said, and the phony worker instructed him to hold the hose while the water was running.
The suspect then went back into the man's home, let the second suspect in through the front door and the two men took the safe, Erwin said.
The victim described the suspects as Latino, 5 feet 6 inches to 6 feet tall and having stocky builds. Both had brown hair and eyes. The first man wore a tool belt and an identification badge that was turned backward, Erwin said.
The first suspect also wore a blue work shirt with an orange T-shirt underneath.
On June 27, a similar scam occurred in Loomis and two suspects took money and other valuables from an elderly couple who had trouble giving the Sheriff's Department a description of the men.
The victims, who were sent outside to hold a running water hose, recalled that the suspects wore blue pants and work-type uniform shirts with a white name badge.
However, they were unable to describe the suspects' race or estimated heights and weights. The couple did recall seeing a raised pickup truck that was gray or blue.
About Comments
Reader comments on Sacbee.com are the opinions of the writer, not The Sacramento Bee. If you see an objectionable comment, click the "report abuse" button below it. We will delete comments containing inappropriate links, obscenities, hate speech, and personal attacks. Flagrant or repeat violators will be banned. See more about comments here.