Con man cons judge into lenient sentence

12/18/2010

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The 44-year old con man, who was arrested by the 108th Precinct, had his day in court.  We have been told he took a "plea" deal and the little creep only received a sentence of 60 days.  Oh, don't assume he'll spend the entire 60 days in jail - knowing how the system works he'll probably be released early for "good behavior".  If we find out when he's released we'll notify you.   It is very upsetting to know that this individual received so little time after he conned dozens of kind-hearted residents in Maspeth, Elmhurst and other communities for money by telling them he needed it to pick up a prescription for his sick mother.   Rest assured this creep will soon be back on the street pulling his scam on other unsuspecting people.  Hopefully people will call 911 not if, but when he comes back to our neighborhood.   We want to thank everyone for getting the word out.  We especially want to thank and commend  those of you who were victimized and stepped forward.  COMET plans to give the officer who arrested this creep an award at our February 7th meeting.  We do not meet in January.
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Con man captured!

11/24/2010

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Hi Everyone,   Here's something else you can be thankful for this Thanksgiving - the con man has been arrested!   Thanks to word getting out alerting residents to the scam involving a male white ringing the doorbells of homes in Maspeth, Elmhurst and other communities asking for money to fill a prescription for his mother, a Sunnyside resident called 911.  The 108th Precinct responded to 39th Avenue/49th Street in Sunnyside Gardens and arrested him.   The 44-year old male had three outstanding bench warrants out on him for "cons" just like he was doing to us.  He was charged with criminal trespass, fraudulent accosting and possession of burglar tools.  I spoke with Captain Powers and told him, if necessary, we would be willing to do a "Court Watch" to make sure the judge gives him the maximum sentence.   We commend the 108th Precinct for a job well done and plan to give an award to the arresting officer, PO Jamie Damico at our February meeting.  I'll send out a reminder to everyone just in case you'd like to attend and applaud him.   I want to thank everyone for passing the word to folks in our community and hope you have a great Thanksgiving!  I'm sure we'll hear more about this arrest at our next meeting.   Don't forget our meeting on December 6th.  We have no meeting in January.  Our February meeting will be on Monday, February 7th.
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Update on con man - very important!

11/20/2010

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  • If you or anyone you know was a victim of the con man or was approached by the con man and/or gave him money and a police report was not taken - or you are unsure as to whether a police report was taken - and you think you can identify the con man - Call PO Maro Youssef at the 108th Precinct at (718) 784-5426.  If he is not there leave him a message w/your name, phone # and reason you're calling him.  You can e-mail him with your name, phone # and address: maro.youssef@nypd.org  It does not matter what precinct you live in but it is imperative that you reach out to him as soon as possible. 
  • We had an incident on Sunday evening between the hours of 7 pm and 9 pm.  A husband and wife, who live on 66th Street in Maspeth behind the firehouse, left home to go to a wake.  Shortly thereafter someone rang the doorbell of their home and their 20-year old daughter answered the door.  Two male whites, claiming to be police officers, were asking her about burglaries.  They left in what looked like a private car service vehicle.  I have been told by the 104th Precinct that officers do a "canvass" in the area if a burglary occurred nearby.  Since these men did not show ID it is unknown whether or not they were police officers or were ringing the doorbell because they saw people leaving and wanted to make sure no one was home before they broke in.  DI Green, Commanding Officer at the 104th Precinct is looking into whether or not officers were in the area during that time.   In the meantime, if someone comes to your door claiming to be plain clothes police officers, or anything else for that matter, you have every right to call 911 and ask them to dispatch a marked police car to your location to confirm the identify of the individual(s).  Please, don't open your door to anyone that you don't know!!!
  • Last but not least, please don't leave anything of value in your car.  Crooks are breaking into vehicles stealing laptops, wallets, GPS's, etc. even if the cars are parked in private driveways.  We don't want our crime statistics to go up.
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Con man strikes again - this time on Fresh Pond

11/10/2010

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We were just advised by a COMET member that the con man, who has been going to homes to try to get money for his mother's prescriptions, just hit again.  Please pass this on to your neighbors and e-mail everyone you know!!!   The incident occurred this morning at 8:00 am in the vicinity of Fresh Pond Road/60th Road in Maspeth.  The victim, who forked over $40, is too embarrassed to come forward and refuses to make a police report.  The person who told our COMET member will continue to urge the victim to make a report or at the very least contact Council Member Elizabeth Crowley's office so maybe her staff can urge her to make a report.   The con man had "salt & pepper hair" which matches the description given by our Elmhurst member.!  Call 911 if you spot him ringing doorbells and tell the 911 operator that he matches the description of an individual who is conning residents.  Don't forget to be prepared to give a description, height, weight, ethnicity, clothing, etc.   One of our members e-mailed me and said he has a camera by his door and will snap the perpetrators photo if he rings his bell.  Great idea!!
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