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A 90-year-old man was pushed to the ground and robbed inside his own home last week by a man who convinced him that he worked for the Philadelphia Water Department.
The faux city worker knocked on the door of the home on the 1600 block of Jackson Street around 3:50 p.m. May 4 and identified himself as a city worker, according to a police report. He said he needed to check the senior citizen’s water and was invited inside.
He checked the kitchen faucet and then went to the basement. There he flushed the toilet and as he was looking at the bathtub, the elderly man ordered the man to leave his residence, according to the report.
The suspect then knocked over a clothing rack and pretended to fall. At this point, the man heard footsteps upstairs. The intruder asked for assistance in getting up and the elderly man put his hand out to help, but the fake city employee pulled him to the ground and removed the wallet from his pocket, according to the report. The older man screamed and the fake employee picked up a baseball bat and almost struck him with it, but dropped it and fled the home instead.
The senior citizen received a bruise to his left arm from the fall, but did not seek medical treatment.
The offender was described as white, 5-foot-8, age 25 to 30, thin, clean shaven and wearing a plaid shirt and dark pants.
To report information, call South Detectives at 215-686-3013.
Contact Staff Writer Amanda Snyder at asnyder@southphillyreview.com or ext. 117.
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