Police Impersonators Steal $3,000 Cash From 75-Year-Old Baltimore Homeowner
BALTIMORE (WJZ)-- Two men posing as police officers steal thousands from an elderly man. That man believed the men were officers so he allowed them into his home. What happened next has police scouring the area for suspects.
Weijia Jiang speaks to the victim.
When two men outside George Johnson's house on Cooks Lane told him they were police officers, he believed them.
"They had badges and everything," he said.
But soon the 75-year-old realized they got him for $3,000.
The suspects told Johnson to show them his cash because they were investigating if it was counterfeit.
They had a photo array book, latex gloves and authoritative words. So Johnson said, "OK."
"When I let them see the money, they grabbed it and wrenched it outta my hand," he said.
This sort of crime is one Baltimore knows all too well, and now police are investigating if this case is part of a bigger operation.
"If you're ever confronted by police, if they're not in uniform and if you have any question as to their validity, whether or not they're police officers, ask to see their ID," Jeremy Silbert, spokesman for the Baltimore City Police Department, said.
But many don't ask.
Last July, police say impersonators beat up and shot a group of homeowners who opened their doors.
In November, fake cops targeted the Hispanic community.
"Just really scary. It's frightening that people would even attempt something like that," one person said.
"It's just incredible. It makes you wonder who you can trust," said another.
Johnson says the answer is no one. Though emotionally scarred by the attack, he realizes it could have been worse.
"They could have stabbed me up or anything. I could have been dead when someone come home and found me. So I'm blessed. The money, I can always get but another life I can't," Johnson said.
Johnson describes the suspects as African-American men in their 50s or 60s.
If you have any information on the impersonators you are asked to call police.
