Crime & Safety

Daytime Burglaries Target Elderly Women

South Whitehall police say a suspect posed as water department employee and robbed a 92-year-old woman. Four hours later, a similar incident in Upper Macungie happened to an 88-year-old woman.

South Whitehall police say a 92-year-old woman's home was burglarized Wednesday after a man posing as a water department employee told her he needed to check out a problem. The burglary occurred at noon in the 3900 block of Walbert Avenue.

Four hours later, just miles aways in Upper Macungie, a man posing as a utility worker helped rob an 88-year-old township woman.

Both burglaries are connected, Upper Macungie Police Chief Edgardo Colon said.

“I ask that you all, educate your family, your friends, your elderly neighbors to be cautious," Colon said at an Upper Macungie supervisors meeting.

In South Whitehall, the suspect was described as a white man, in his early 20s, standing 5-feet-6 with dark brown, medium-length hair. He wore glasses and was clean-shaven, police said. He was wearing blue jeans, a white T-shirt and blue zippered jacket. He was operating a full-size white panel van.

According to South Whitehall police, the man rang the woman's side door bell at noon and said he was from the water department. He had some sort of ID around his neck. The man, pointing to a house to the east, told her a neighbor had complained that her water bill was too high and so he was checking out the problem. 

The man led the woman to the kitchen and ran the water for 5 to 10 minutes. He said there was air in the lines that was causing the problem and that someone would be back to fix it.

After he left, it was discovered that a large amount of cash and jewelry had been stolen from the home.

Police are investigating.

In the Upper Macungie case, police reported that a man claiming to be a utility worker helped rob an 88-year-old woman in Upper Macungie, also on Wednesday.


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