Police are looking for a man and two women who pushed their way into a disabled veteran’s Lawndale home and stole $100 from him on Sunday.
The three came to the vet’s door on the 600 block of East Comly Street at about 4:40 p.m. July 6, said Lt. Dennis Rosenbaum of Northeast Detectives. They knocked on the door and began asking the resident some questions before forcing their way in, searching the house and swiping the money.
The 68-year-old victim, who suffered a stroke a year ago, Rosenbaum said, has been hospitalized.
A witness said the three people used an older model Oldsmobile Silhouette minivan to leave the area.
The man is in his 40s and has balding black hair. He was wearing a white shirt and brown cargo shorts. One woman was wearing a purple shirt and was between 60 and 70 years old, he said. The other woman was between 50 and 60 years old. The three spoke with Turkish accents.
Two people with similar descriptions committed a similar crime a few days earlier in the same neighborhood, the lieutenant said.
In this case, an 83-year-old man answered his door on the 600 block of Sanger Street. A man and a woman forced their way in, claiming they were neighbors and wanted to check his plumbing. They asked the man for $20, Rosenbaum said, “and he gave it to them.”
That didn’t stop them from stealing the man’s pants, which contained his wallet and $700, Rosenbaum said.
The man was described as white and in his 50s. The woman was white and 70 years old.
Two other crimes at victims’ homes occurred during the first week of the month, also in the Lower Northeast, Rosenbaum said. But in those incidents, the attacker’s description didn’t match the Comly and Sanger crimes, and these last crimes involved violence.
On July 5, an 80-year-old resident of the 1000 block of St. Vincent Street in Burholme was attacked and robbed of $1,000 after he returned home from a local bank, Rosenbaum said. A black man between 45 and 50 years old punched the victim in the chest as he tried to enter his garage. He was seen in a gray vehicle, the lieutenant said.
A few days earlier and a mile and a half away, another elderly man was attacked and robbed as he entered his garage. Rosebaum said an 86-year-old man returned to his home on the 1200 block of Rhawn after visiting a local bank on July 1. He was punched in his face by a 6-foot-tall black man who stole $1,000 from him. The robber escaped in a gray vehicle, the lieutenant said.
Anyone with information about any of these crimes can call 215–686-TIPS (8477) or call the Northeast Detective Division at 215–686–3153 or 3154. ••
