On Monday, January 18th an elderly Middle Village couple was victimized by a pair of crooks posing as Con Edison workers. The scammers, described as two male whites, rang the doorbell of the couple's home on 60th Drive saying that they had to investigate a possible leak in the home. Upon entering they stole $900 in cash. The 78-year old woman and her 87-year old husband called police but the perpetrators were long gone.

“We speak about this at just about every community meeting we attend, this is a preventable crime,” said Police Office Thomas Bell, community affairs officer for the 104th Precinct. He urged residents to call 911 immediately if someone knocks on the door asking to enter your home without an appointment.

“Unfortunately crooks prey upon the good nature of our residents, especially seniors, we see this type of crime increase in hard economic times, said Robert Holden, president of the Juniper Park Civic Association and chairman of the Public Safety Committee of Community Board 5Q. Both officer Bell and Holden said that even if the person knocking on your door has identification and is wearing a utility company uniform residents should not let them in unless they have a pre-arranged appointment.

The 104th Precinct detective squad is investigating the January 18th incident.