Morning Notes
Leggett Says Employee Raise Necessary To Avoid Arbitration — County Executive Isiah Leggett (D) defended his recent deal with county employee unions to give workers their first pay raise in four years at the cost of about $11 million a year. Leggett said leaving matters to binding arbitration would have meant steeper costs for the county. [Washington Post]
Police Warn of Telephone Scam — Police believe three recent incidents are part of the same telephone scam. None happened in Bethesda, but one in Rockville in which the caller told a resident her son had been in a car accident and kidnapped was similar to a series of telephone scams taking advantage of elderly residents last year in Friendship Heights. [Montgomery County Police]
Bethesda Cycling Instructor Helps To Raise Money For Rare Cancer Research — Colleen Fisher, a Chevy Chase resident and group cycling instructor at Equinox on Bethesda Row, recently helped raise $176,000 as part of the Cycle For Survival. Fisher and her team cycled for the four hours of the fundraiser. [The Gazette]
Flickr photo by ehpien
Police Warn of Friendship Heights Phone Scam
Montgomery County Police say someone is calling mostly elderly residents in Friendship Heights and pretending to be their grandchild to scam them out of money.
Since mid-October, the suspect or suspects have made out with $2,000 by claiming they have been arrested in an accident in Mexico of Canada and need money, police said.
The caller then has told the victims not to tell the “grandchild’s” mother or father, police said.
In two cases, the victim has deposited money in a bank account given by the caller. Police say there have been five of these incidents.
From the press release:
Based on the above incidents, police are reminding all residents to verify the identity of anyone who contacts them via telephone. Obtain a telephone number from the caller, and tell the caller that you will return his or her call. Do not provide bank account numbers over the phone, and do not send money to anyone you do not know. Most importantly, if you feel that you have been the victim of a scam, contact police. Your report to the police is oftentimes the only way that police know that such incidents are occurring.
Late last month, police say a scam artist dressed in a construction vest and hard hat distracted an elderly Bethesda resident while his partner stole jewelry from her home.
Police Looking For Utility Scam Artists
Police say a man with a hard hat and reflective vest claiming he worked for the water company distracted an elderly Bethesda resident last week as his partner stole jewelry from her house.
The incident, which happened before 11:50 a.m. on Friday, Oct. 26 in the 5200 block of Alta Vista Road, is very similar to a reported incident about 15 minutes earlier in Chevy Chase.
At about 11:35 a.m., police say officers responded to an 87-year-old woman in the 5300 block of Sherrill Avenue who said a man with tan pants and a hard hat knocked on her door and claimed he worked for the Bethesda Water Company.
He told her he needed to check her water pressure because of a water main break, police said Tuesday in a press release. Police said a neighbor arrived at that point to check on the victim. The man again said he worked for the Betehsda Water Company before leaving the property in a gray Saturn, police said. He did not enter the home.
Police later received the call from Alta Vista Road, where they say an 86-year-old woman heard a knock on the door and opened it to find a man with blue jeans, a reflective vest and a hard hat.
He said he worked for the water company and that he had to check the water pressure in the basement because of a water main break. When the victim was with the man in the basement, police said she heard footsteps upstairs. After questioning the man about the footsteps, he quickly left the home, police said. She went upstairs and found jewelry missing from her bedroom.
Police did not say whether they think the same man posed as the utility worker at both homes. They did warn residents to ask for proper identification from any utility workers asking to enter their homes in the aftermath of Sandy.
Police are asking anyone with information about the incidents or the suspects involved to contact detectives at 301-657-0112.
