VIAGRA NEWS

Source: The Express Times

Date: 24-Feb-2007

Author: Tom Quigley

WASHINGTON | Borough police Detective Wendell Whitmore has a theory about a rash of burglaries by scam artists targeting the elderly throughout Warren County.

The detective -- who is investigating eight cases in the borough -- asked himself a question.

"How are they finding out where these elderly residents live?"

A common denominator occurred to him: pharmacies and doctors' offices frequented by the elderly.

Whitmore went back to the victims and asked if they recalled anything they did during the days leading up to the scams.

Six of the eight victims said they'd been to the Quick Chek pharmacy in the borough within days of the crimes.

Whitmore said it's possible the scam artists are staking out the pharmacy, following elderly customers back to their homes and noting their addresses for a future scam. A call to Quick Chek corporate headquarters seeking comment was not returned Friday.

Whitmore passed the information to police in Lopatcong and Pohatcong townships, where detectives are investigating the bulk of the scams.

Twenty-one cases dating to 2005 are under investigation in Pohatcong Township, Alpha, Lopatcong Township, Phillipsburg and Greenwich Township.

Seven of those cases involve burglaries and thefts. In the remaining cases the suspects either did not get into the house or did get in but didn't steal anything, Pohatcong Township Detective Scott Raub said.

In Pohatcong Township and Alpha, police estimate $100,000 in cash was stolen.

Raub said police have a map with pins placed at the sites of the 21 incidents.

There is also a pending case in Hackettstown.

Raub said he is checking out Whitmore's theory and he considers it an important lead in the case.

He said he distributed descriptions of the suspects to area pharmacies and asked them to keep an eye out for anyone matching the descriptions.

To date, Raub said he has not isolated a single pharmacy patronized by a significant number of victims. However, he said that leg of the investigation is still continuing.

The most recent case in Washington occurred Feb. 9 at a Railroad Avenue home with apartments on the first and second floors, Whitmore said.

In that case, the scammers apparently obtained the name of the second-floor resident from a mailbox. No one was home on the second floor and a suspect knocked on the door of the first-floor resident, an elderly woman.

The suspect told the woman she had a gift for the family upstairs and entered the victim's home. Whitmore said the suspect knocked over some flowerpots. Raub believes it created a distraction and allowed a second suspect to enter the house. The second suspect then stole $1,300 in cash from the woman's apartment. The victim did not notice the theft until days later, Whitmore said.

"She was very upset," he said.

Police in other Warren County departments said that's the typical scenario: one suspect distracts the victim, while the other commits the theft.