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Elderly Rockaway Residents Conned By Grifter Posing As Concerned Neighbor
By
Lauren Evans
Published Feb 7, 2014
Modified Feb 7, 2014
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DCPI
By
Lauren Evans
Published Feb 7, 2014
Modified Feb 7, 2014
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Police have arrested a Washington Heights man accused of impersonating the neighbors of elderly apartment dwellers so he can swindle them.
58-year-old Salvador Morales was arrested today after allegedly telling victims in two separate cases that he was their upstairs neighbor, and that water from his apartment was leaking into theirs. Morales would then allegedly inform the victims that he'd need to take a look at the damages in order to pay for them.
He'd then reportedly ask the victims for change for a $100 bill, in order to give them $50 to "pay for the damages." While the victims busied themselves with that request, Morales would allegedly riffle through their apartments, pocketing money and jewelry. In the first case, which took place on December 24, Morales was said to have taken around $2,200 and an assortment of jewelry from an 89-year-old Far Rockaway woman. In the second instance on January 19, he apparently took $170—as well as some jewelry—from an 88-year-old woman, also in Far Rockaway.
Morales is being charged with two counts of burglary, grand larceny and criminal possession of stolen property.
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burglary
far rockaway
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Washington Heights
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Lauren Evans
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