Nov 20 at 5:44 PM
Distraction burglars targeting elderly Torrance residents
Posted: 11/20/13, 4:27 PM PST |
Teams of thieves are targeting elderly residents in Torrance, distracting them with stories about needing to do work outside their homes, then slipping inside and stealing their jewelry, police said Wednesday.
Five crimes have been reported since September in the city, including one on Monday in the 4900 block of Newton Street.
“We might be looking at a couple crews here on this,” Torrance police Sgt. Robert Watt said.
On Monday, an elderly couple told police a man approached their home and said he was going to be working on the water system on a hill that backed up to their house. He asked for access to their rear yard.
While the husband and wife took him into the yard, someone entered their house and took $6,000 worth of jewelry, Watt said.
The victims described the man as a possibly white, perhaps Italian male with dark hair and a short beard. He was about 40 years old, 5 feet 10 inches to 6 feet tall and heavy-set.
On Nov. 3, a light-skinned Latino man in a white T-shirt rang the doorbell of a house in the 3500 block of Newton Street about 11 a.m. and said he was a contractor. He told the elderly resident he was working on a neighbor’s house and said he needed to enter her backyard to make sure he did not damage her property.
The woman took him into the backyard, where he told her he needed to cover a portion of her garage. While talking to her for about 10 minutes, someone else entered her house and took jewelry, Watt said.
On Sept. 16, a man approached an 82-year-old about 2:30 p.m. outside her home in the 800 block of Beech Avenue and asked if she needed the bushes in her backyard trimmed.
When the woman declined, the man said he was interested in buying a recreational vehicle and asked if he could look at hers parked in the driveway. The woman took him on a tour inside the RV. When he was done looking , he drove away in a white Nissan Xterra pickup truck.
About an hour later, the woman walked into her bedroom and found her jewelry box on her bed. Her jewelry was missing.
She described the man as white, possibly Italian, or Latino, 30 to 35 years old, with black short hair and a mustache. He might have worn a white jumpsuit.
Police have received two other similar crime reports.
Watt said thieves are targeting gold, which can quickly be turned into cash.
If anyone approaches, residents should listen carefully to what the person wants, check if they have work materials in a truck to see if they are legitimate, and contact a neighbor to make sure work is indeed being done.
Suspicious people should be reported to the Torrance Police Department’s non-emergency number at 310-328-3456, Watt said.
Police asked anyone with information about the thieves to contact detectives at 310-618-5570.
John Bailey, President
SETHA
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