The newest scamming panhandler
On the emal group:
"I had a guy come up to me on my porch earlier this evening (maybe around
6:45 or 7) and ask for money. He gave me the whole story about his wife
was up at the Kash n Karry with their car and he needed only nine more dollars
for the tow truck. He told me he was a pastor and that his friend the
deacon had called for the truck for him. I told him I didn't have the
money and to keep walking. One of my neighbors just came by and told me he
came to his house also. I had not seen this person and he didn't resemble
any of the previous pictures shared in the email group but my neighbor said he's
been making the rounds for about three weeks now b/c he hit him up earlier this
month at 11:30 at night. This guy was a b/m (maybe in his 40's) wearing
khaki pants and a maroon polo shirt with the letters "AWA" embroidered in
white. He was also wearing sneakers and a baseball cap. He was very
clean and polite didn't seem agitated. My neighbor called TPD
and actually followed him a bit and the guy started running through yards
to get away. Just keep an eye out."
6 comments:
why would you call TPD over this?
Someone fitting that description came to my door last week at 10:30pm. He told me his wife was a nurse at St Joe's and her car was stuck and needed a tow. $9 was all he needed. He wasn't happy when I told him my partner worked at St Joe's and that if he'd just tell me his wife's name I'd be able to arrange something through the employees there.
The story he tells is fast, complicated, and there's lots of twists and turns. It's hard to assemble all the details in your head before he asks for cash a few times. It's a con job. It is illegal.
A prior miscreant would threaten women and children if you didn't give him cash. Do not assume that anyone comming to your door asking for money, especially very late at night, is harmless. Call the police.
If an elderly person opened the door instead of me, would they have had a different encounter than I did?
Never open the door for strangers, day or night.
I lived in Miami for many years and there was a big problem with home invasion robberies. Luckily, we don't seem to have that problem here.
Don't feel guilty about whatever their story happens to be. I will no doubt involve either, a broken down car, needing to get to a place that is approx 6-10 miles away which of course is too far to walk and no story would be complete without mention of a family member such as a sick kid or grandmother.
I met some friends a few weeks ago at the Starbucks in Clearwater. A homeless guy came in and went table to table with a story about needing to get to somewhere in Pasco to see his sick mother.
We later saw him inside Sheppards on the beach. He must have gotten a few people to pay him b/c the cover at Sheppards was 7 dollars, plus whatever his cab fare was; and he wouldn't pay to go into Sheppards unless he had more money for drinks.
It's a scam. Just say no. Stay safe; keep your door closed.
This isn't new.
I remember back in my early college years in 1994.
I had a single room apartment and someone had knocked at my door at 2:00 AM. My friends had just left my place, so I assumed it was one of them knocking on the door. It turns out to be someone very polite and wanting to borrow gas money. He stated that he wanted to drive across town and that he was going to give me his TV as a collateral (he mentioned he lived in the same complex and even mentioned the apt number). I gave him $10 for his honesty and told him to pay me back whenever (I was barely scraping by).
That was the last time I saw him. Turns out that apt number didn't even exist.
To this day, I'm not mad at myself for giving the money, but because I answered the door.
This man came to my door a few weeks ago on a Thursday night at 11:52 p.m. and, yes, I did call the police. I did not open the door. He told the same story about needing $9 for the tow truck, wife works at the hospital, daughter waiting in the car down the street, etc. He also claimed to live 3 doors down from me (in a house that is still under construction? I don't think so.)
I reported it because I didn't know if he had a partner who was casing my house for open windows while I was at the door.
Interestingly enough earlier this week I had a "new" guy come to my door about 11:45pm. I didn't answer the door but my dogs went ballistic and he left a minute later.
I'm just not giving money to anyone on the street anymore. I'll continue to support charities I think are doing their best ...
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