Police stop pair of senior scams
Shelby Township police said they were able to stop a pair scams targeting the community’s elderly population in the same neighborhood within minutes of each other.
Authorities arrested two men — who investigators say are related — and both have a long rap sheet of ripping off senior citizens. The alleged scamsters were stopped before they could steal items from the targeted seniors, police said.
“These two suspects both exhibit the worst quality a human can ever have — preying on the elderly — and they have been getting away with it for several years,” Police Chief Robert Shelide said. “They both need to be in jail where they belong, and we need the court system to take these cases seriously before they prey on more elderly victims.”
Steve John, 38, of Rochester Hills was arrested on a felony warrant from a prior fraud case. He was arraigned Jan. 25 in 41A District Court on a charge of felony pretenses of less than $20,000. Magistrate James Verploeg set bond at $25,000.
The second suspect was arrested for soliciting with a permit, but officials did not release his name. Investigators said he recently pleaded guilty to defrauding an elderly victim out of more than $50,000 but received no jail time in his sentence.
According to police, the department on Jan. 21 became aware of a quickly developing scam involving an 88-year-old Shelby Township resident. Police learned the suspect was on the way to the elderly victim’s home to pick up $8,400 cash within the next 10-15 minutes.
Detectives responded immediately to the victim’s neighborhood to set up surveillance and watched as a Lyft driver pulled into the driveway a short time later. Detectives stopped to question the Lyft driver and found she was being unknowingly used by a suspect to pick up the money from the victim.
The driver was released, and the investigation into the suspect in this case is ongoing.
While the detectives were in the area, they noticed a Dodge Ram pickup truck driving slowly up and down the street several times. They watched as the truck pulled into a driveway down the street and saw a male talk to an 84-year-old homeowner in the driveway.
Police said the suspicious male spoke with an elderly homeowner for 30 minutes before the two went inside the home. Detectives pulled up to the house to speak with the elderly male, who told investigators the suspect randomly came to his home to offer to do cement repairs.
Two other suspects, including John, were located inside of the pickup truck. All are known scam artists in suburban Detroit, according to police.
Officers said the scams typically involve one of the suspects talking to an elderly victim inside of his home to keep him distracted while a second person enters the house to steal money and valuables.