Our Neighborhood Scammer

Thanx to an alert Morningside resident who sent a query about a midnite encounter with a pedestrian at the corner of North Highland Avenue and East Rock Springs Road stopping passing cars stating he had been the victim of a car jacking – I would not have known that our infamous scammer was still active. After a posting on the neighborhood message boards about this incident, I learned a lot about this middle-aged, 6 foot tall, nicely dressed b/m, who has been scamming good samaritans for years now. He was located, thanx to a 911 report, and questioned by APD one recent rainy nite – but I have not gotten any word as to the outcome of this event. I counted 26 “true confessions” messages I received from folks who have given this guy 20 or 30 bucks just to get rid of him, and I am sure there are scores of other similar stories. He seems to commonly use tales of woe about needing to get to a hospital to visit a family member, he has run out of gas somewhere, is in the military and is stranded, or variations thereof. He quite often has a cellphone to his ear and quite often the encounters are at odd hours of the day or in bad weather – lending an air of authenticity to his stories. The guy has had years to perfect his craft and is quite obviously very good at it and evidently has raked in a lot of cash over time. Our Officer Cooper asks you not to let him in your car and to please call 911 immediately so he can be caught in the act sometime. Evidently he has never harmed anyone yet, and is only after your hard-earned cash – but do not take chances with him.