Riverside police reported a lead in a month-old burglary in the 3700 block of Haas Ave. today when a neighbor gave detectives a description of a man believed to have talked his way into an elderly couple’s house and stolen $12,000 worth of jewelry on Oct. 19.
Around 2 p.m., according to police reports, the suspect pictured in the investigation sketch rang the victim’s doorbell, gave the woman a hug saying, “We did your roof, don’t you remember?” The roof was repaired 10 years ago, the woman later told police. The phony contractor insisted he was there to fix the fence and convinced the woman to exit the house with him.
A second suspect entered the house and was confronted inside by the husband of the victim. He began to “measure the living room” by walking heel to toe across the room, police said. When the suspects left the scene — in a red vehicle — the victims discovered the loss of the jewelry from a second floor bedroom.
On Friday, police canvassing the neighborhood interviewed a neighbor who answered the door to a similar unknown man around the same time on the same date. “The neighbor believes that they came to his house [unsuccessfully] first,” said Riverside Police Chief Tom Weitzel. The resident gave police a description of a male (possibly Hispanic) about 5-feet, 9-inches between 35 and 40 years old, slender to medium build, wearing horn rimmed glasses, a pale yellow windbreaker, clean white painters’ pants and a Chicago Blackhawks cap. The second suspect (who was not seen by the neighbor) was described as a male in his mid-to-late 50s, about 6 feet tall with a medium build wearing a heavy winter coat.
Weitzel said the department is informing the village to alert seniors to be aware of possible contractor ruses. He said the victim’s location at Ogden and Haas was a possible target because, “[burglars] get right on Ogden, blend in with traffic and they’re gone.”
