Braintree, Quincy Police Warn About Thieves Posing As Water Dept. Workers
QUINCY (CBS) - Quincy and Braintree police report cases of a thief trying to access people's homes by posing as a Department of Public Works employee.
The suspect is different in the two cities, but the ruse is the same. One thief had success in a Quincy neighborhood.
"I run up the stairs, I don't suspect anything," said Giovanna Iacovangelo.
The Iacovangelos thought they were helping the Quincy Water Department. Several minutes earlier, a man dressed as a town employee knocked on their door on Dysart Street. He told them he worked for the city's water department, even though he pulled up in a plain blue truck.
He said he wanted to test the water and needed the couple in the basement. "The guy opened the faucet. He said, 'let the water run 5 to 10 minutes to it becomes blue. I go down the street and put something in the pipe,'" said Iacovangelo.
Giovanna only left when she needed more buckets and that's when she knew there was a problem.
"When I went upstairs, I saw my bedroom, open off the kitchen, with the lights on and the drawer open," said Iacovangelo. "Antonio, we've been robbed they robbed us."
The man got away with most of Giovanna's jewelry.
"Sure upset, I couldn't believe it," said Iacovangelo.
She immediately called police, but the fake water employee was long gone. Next time someone knocks on her door she said she will not be so helpful.
An elderly neighbor said another two men were waiting by the truck and called the one inside when they needed to leave.
Police are using this as an opportunity to remind residents to talk to strangers through a locked door.
