Police Warn Of Group Of Criminals Preying On Vulnerable Victims In Philadelphia
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Police are warning residents about a group of criminals who are preying on the elderly and the latest victim is a disabled Vietnam War veteran.
Police say the group of alleged scammers is traveling with a child.
For his protection, CBS 3 is not identifying the 68-year-old victim, a Vietnam War veteran who is unable to speak after suffering a stroke.
As a relative, this man expressed outrage and concern.
"People who prey on the disabled get no pity from me, knock on my door." He adds, "From what I understand, he's not the first and he probably won't be their last until they're caught."
His statement comes after learning the 68-year-old is the second victim to be targeted in just three days.
The culprits, according to eyewitnesses and police, are a group of four including a male, two women and a child, traveling in a white minivan.
Eyewitness Khalaf Mungo says of the culprit, "He was asking about the apartment for rent behind me and I let him know somebody already moved in. That's why he said he was across the street, he said he was asking them as well, and I really didn't put the two and two together, so I let it ride."
Police say the latest incident happened Sunday afternoon in the 600 block of Comly Street. Just three days earlier, police say another disabled man in his eighties was victimized two blocks away on Sanger Street.
"It's upsetting. It's supposed to be a nice neighborhood, the reason I moved here. Older people, not so much drama, then you see things like that and it bothers you," Mungo says.
Police say the suspects are getting away with cash. Authorities say the suspect description is a white man in his forties, with two older white women and a child who could be as young as three-years-old.
Police believe the same group is behind both of the crimes and are asking residents in the area to beware.
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