Elderly woman robbed after man used ruse to get into her home, California police say
A man is accused of robbing an elderly woman Saturday evening in Lincoln, gaining access to her home under the ruse of retrieving a ball from her backyard, police said.
The 89-year-old victim told officers responding to her home, near Lariat Loop, that the suspect had come to her front door around 6:30 p.m. asking to retrieve his child’s ball from her backyard, the Lincoln Police Department said in a news release.
Once the woman let the man inside, he “pulled out a knife and demanded money from the victim,” according to the news release.
He then cut the phone line to the victim’s landline, also stealing her cellphone, cash, checks, credit cards and driver’s license, police said. The woman was not hurt.
Authorities determined that the suspect attempted the same ruse at a nearby home several minutes earlier, but was not allowed indoors by the residents of that house.
Lincoln police described the suspect as a man in his 20s who is approximately 6 feet tall with short brown hair, wearing a gray shirt and blue jeans. It was not known whether he left on foot or in a vehicle.
The Police Department asked anyone with information about the incidents to contact the police chief’s assistant, Renee Maldonado, at 916-645-4057 or by email at Renee.Maldonado@lincoln.ca.gov.
This story was originally published November 1, 2022 at 11:14 AM.
