Cops: He said he was there for bugs but got jewelry instead

He said he was looking for termites but ridded their home of jewelry instead.

A man from the Fort Lauderdale area who Delray Beach police call a “scam artist” talked his way into the residence of a Delray Beach couple Monday afternoon by pretending to be an exterminator, according to investigators.

The woman who opened her door to Angelo Demetro, 33, at her condominium at the Pines of Delray community, assumed he was sent by her homeowner’s association, so she let him inside, police said.

He looked in her kitchen cabinets and said there were “bugs everywhere,” police said in a Facebook posting meant to inform city residents and caution them against becoming victims of similar incidents.

After taking clothes out of a dresser in the bedroom and taking a suitcase from a closet, the so-called exterminator left as quickly as he arrived – saying someone would be coming back spray the residence.

When he left, the 74-year-old woman who lives in the home noticed several pieces of her jewelry were missing, police said.

“He was marvelous, you would have never, ever suspected anything,” the woman who lives in the condo told Sun Sentinel news partner WPEC-CBS12. Even though the stolen jewelry was worth just a few hundred dollars, she was still to shaken from the crime and did not want to be identified.

Detectives were later able to get the man’s fingerprints from the home and identified the phony exterminator as Demetro, according to police.

After a records check, investigators determined that Demetro has been in legal trouble in the past for similar crimes and they located several booking photos from previous arrests.

In 2009, Demetro pleaded no contest in Broward County to charges that include grand theft and exploitation of the elderly, court records show.

If he’s located, police say Demetro will be charged with grand theft from a person over 65 and organized scheme to defraud.

Investigators think he may be driving a silver, late-model Chevrolet Silverado truck.

Delray Beach police ask anyone with information about Demetro’s whereabouts to contact Detective Chris Trapasso at 561-243-7868 or call Crime Stoppers of Palm Beach County, anonymously, at 800-458-8477.