Highlighted Activity for the Weekdays of October 7-9, 2013

Annoying Phone Calls / Grandparent Scam

October 7 at 3:22 p.m., a phone scam was reported from a resident in the 100 block of North Magnolia.  The resident received calls telling her that her grandson was in jail in Puerto Vallarta.  The caller wanted 10,000 dollars in 100 dollar bills placed throughout a magazine and mailed to a location in New York.  The victim stopped and confirmed both of her grandsons were in the United States, and then reported the incident to police.  The victim did not suffer any loss.

Fight in Progress / Possession of Drug Paraphernalia / Warrant – Suspects Arrested

October 8 at 9:25 p.m., officers responded to a hotel in the 900 block of South Fifth Avenue on the report of two male subjects fighting in the hotel hallway.  One of the suspects left the location prior to the officers arriving.  Officers located the other male suspect in a hotel room, along with two female subjects.  One of the females was arrested for an outstanding warrant out of San Bernardino, and the second female was arrested for possession of a methamphetamine pipe.  A baggie of methamphetamine was found in the hotel, which possibly belonged to the outstanding male suspect.

Tip of the Week

Grandparent Scam – Don’t Be a Victim

The suspects in this type of scam will call an elderly person and pretend to be a grandchild or young relative of the victim.  They tell the elderly victim they are in some type of trouble and are in jail, and that they need bail money.  They ask the elderly person not to tell their parents.  A second suspect then calls pretending to be the police and proceeds to give the victim instructions on were to wire the bail money.  

The suspects target older folks, hoping they can gain an emotional and quick response to the "need" to help out the young relative, and many times it works.  The victims will quickly go to their bank, withdraw and transfer the money in an attempt to help, and by the time they realize the scam, the money has already been picked up by the suspects and is gone.

It is so important to spread awareness and to educate those that we know in hopes of preventing this crime from happening.  If you have a loved one, a friend, or perhaps a neighbor that is older, share this information with them and help keep them from becoming a victim.