Crime & Safety

Around the Rivers: Police Looking for Men Who Burglarized Elderly Richland Woman in Driveway-Sealing Scam

Call Northern Regional Police Department at 724-625-3156 with information.

A large amount of cash was taken Wednesday afternoon from an 85-year-old Richland Township woman who let a man into her home under the pretense of preparing to seal her driveway.

Chief T. Robert Amann said the burglary took place about 3:30 p.m. when a male came to the door of the woman's Richland Avenue home, off Route 910, and asked if she wanted her driveway sealed.

She agreed and while she took him to her basement to get a bucket of hot water that he requested, two other men entered the house and stole the cash from her, Amann said.

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"They work really fast and they're smooth," said Amann. "These types of scams happen everywhere, but this is the first report we've had in our four communities recently."

Northern Regional Police Department covers the communities of Pine, Richland, Marshall and Bradford Woods.

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Once the first man got the bucket of water, he walked out of the woman's garage, threw the water on the driveway and walked to his truck, the police chief said.

The woman said she walked back upstairs and felt something was not right, so she started checking the house and discovered two metal cash boxes laying open on the bed in her bedroom, Amann said. The boxes had been emptied of a large amount of cash, he said.

The woman then looked outside and saw three Hispanic men standing by a small clean white pickup truck, the chief said. No other description of the men or truck was given, according to police.

Amann said the Northern Regional Police Department is asking the public to call them at 724-625-3156 if they see the three Hispanic men in a white truck or any suspicious activity in their neighborhoods.


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