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Crime & Safety

Police Log: Beware of 'Contractor' Scammers Preying on East Bay Residents

Car theft, burglary, embezzlement arrests, and more from Dec. 8 to 14.

Burglars may be posing as contractors to gain entry to residents' homes, police warned this week.

On Tuesday, a resident in Fremont reported that two men knocked on his door between 2 p.m. and 3 p.m. and told the homeowner that they were repairing the neighbor's fence and needed access to the backyard, police said.

The homeowner took the men into the backyard, leaving the front door unlocked, and after speaking with them for about 20 minutes, discovered that cash and jewelry were missing from the home, police said.

And in Piedmont last week, burglars posing as construction workers stole cash and a jewelry box from a Piedmont home in a variation of the scam, a Piedmont Police Department spokesperson said.

A man came to the door about 5:55 p.m. on Dec. 7 and told the woman who lived there that he was a contractor working on a neighbor's water line, Capt. Scott Wyatt said.

The man said that as part of the work, he needed to check water lines in the victim's backyard, he said. 

The man showed the victim a flyer from the contracting business as identification, Wyatt said.

As the man and the local resident returned from the backyard a few minutes later, the woman saw a second man coming out her front door, he said. 

Both men and a female companion fled down Magnolia toward Grand Avenue in a white four-door pickup truck, Wyatt said.

The victim, meanwhile, found a drawer open inside her home and quickly discovered that a wooden jewelry box and $7 in cash were missing, he said.

Police later found the jewelry box discarded on the sidewalk in front of the woman's home Wyatt said.

He said the business flyer provided by the burglars proved to be fake, with none of the listed phone numbers in working order.

In other area crime news:

Saturday, Dec. 14

  • Assault with deadly weapon reported 12:15 a.m. on the 500 block of Bancroft Avenue.
  • Traffic stop arrests made: 12:34 a.m. Dolores and Grand avenues; 1:13 a.m. Durant Avenue at Sunnyside Street; 1:48 a.m. Grant Avenue and Paseo Largavista; 10:08 p.m. Estabrook and East 14th streets; 1:08 p.m. Macarthur Boulevard at 108th Avenue.
  • Car break-in: 8:35 a.m. on 600 San Leandro Boulevard.
  • Vehicle reported stolen 2:51 p.m. on 14300 block of Wiley Street.
  • Pedestrian arrest logged 11:24 p.m. at Biznet. 
Friday, Dec. 13
  • Stolen vehicle recovered 1:11 a.m. on 600 Lewelling Boulevard.
  • Assault with deadly weapon: 6:23 a.m. on 1900 Davis Street.
  • Stolen vehicles: 6:38 a.m. on 500 Callan Avenue; 6:40 a.m. on 14300 Bancroft Avenue; 6:40 p.m. on 2100 Clarke Street.
  • Embezzlement arrest: 2:59 p.m. on 15500 Hesperian Boulevard.
  • Suspicious-person stop/arrest: 3:46 p.m. on 1200 Marina Boulevard.
  • Auto theft arrest: 5:39 p.m. Lewelling Boulevard at Washington Avenue.
  • Disturbance arrest: 10:30 p.m. on 2300 East 14th Street.  
Thursday, Dec. 12
  • Suspicious vehicle stop/arrest: 12:09 a.m. Harold at Martell avenues.
  • Vehicle reported stolen: 6:33 a.m. on 13400 Bancroft Avenue.
  • Stolen vehicle recovered: 8:35 a.m. 137th and Bancroft avenues.
  • Confidential arrest: 8:42 a.m. on 400 West Estudillo Avenue.
  • Traffic stop arrests: 8:43 a.m. on 1900 Marina Boulevard; 10:49 p.m. on 800 Williams Street.
  • Pedestrian arrest: 11:14 a.m. on 1400 Washington Avenue.
  • Arrest after welfare check: 11:22 a.m. on 4300 block of Sweetwater Drive.
  • Car break-ins: 12:12 p.m. on 14600 Washington Avenue; 2:13 p.m. on 1200 Marina Boulevard.
  • Disturbance arrest: 12:14 p.m. on 1400 Washington Avenue.
  • Auto theft arrest: 1:01 p.m. on 1700 Orchard Avenue.  
Wednesday, Dec. 11
  • Carjacking reported 12:23 a.m. on the 2800 block of Benedict Drive.
  • Arson reported 12:27 a.m. I-238 at Washington Avenue.
  • Burglaries: 6:38 a.m. on 1900 Williams Street; 7:08 p.m. on 1200 Dorothy Avenue.
  • Auto burglary/confidential arrest reported 12:36 p.m. along 15500 East 14th Street.
  • Theft arrest: 4:25 p.m. along 15500 Hesperian Boulevard.
  • Drunk/drugs arrest: 4:29 p.m. on 600 Lewelling Boulevard.
  • Pedestrian arrest: 6:28 p.m. on 15100 Hesperian Boulevard.
  • Robbery: 9:54 p.m. on 2100 Whelan Avenue.
  • Disturbance arrest: 10:48 p.m. on 1300 Washington Avenue.
Tuesday, Dec. 10
  • Burglary: 6:49 a.m. on 400 block of Springlake Drive; 11:02 a.m. onn 500 Manor Boulevard.
  • Stolen vehicle recovered: 12:07 p.m. on 1400 Doolittle Drive.
  • Theft arrest: 2:13 p.m. on 1400 Washington Avenue.
  • Arrest after injury accident: 1:36 p.m. on 1500 150th Avenue.
  • Traffic stop arrests: 3:52 p.m. on Timothy Drive at Williams Street; 11:35 p.m. East 14th Street at 107th Avenue.
  • Car break-ins: 6:05 p.m. on 400 Broadmoor Boulevard; 11:28 p.m. on 15500 East 14th Street.
  • Suspicious subject stop/arrest: 10:18 p.m. on 1400 Washington Avenue.
Monday, Dec. 9
  • Suspicious vehicle stop/arrest: 12:26 a.m. Avon Avenue at Wiley Street.
  • Stolen vehicles recovered: 1:10 a.m. on 700 Elsie Avenue; 12:03 a.m. on 2300 East 14th Street; 9:51 p.m. on 800 Davis Street..
  • Burglaries: 6:53 a.m. on 1200 Drake Avenue; 11:57 a.m. on 1500 Morgan Avenue; 1:17 p.m. on 800 Bancroft Avenue; 5:42 p.m. on 800 Alice Avenue.
  • Burglary arrest: 1:09 p.m. along 1300 Linton Street.
  • Pedestrian arrest: 1:14 p.m. Davis Street at I-880.
Sunday, Dec. 8
  • Vehicles reported stolen: 7:43 a.m. on 2500 Sweetwater Drive; 9:03 a.m. on 300 Estudillo Avenue.
  • Disturbance arrest 10:23 a.m. along 300 Haas Avenue.
  • Stolen vehicle parts: 11:17 a.m. on 1400 140th Avenue.
  • Traffic stop arrest: 12:38 p.m. Blenheim and Apricot Street.
  • Indecent exposure reported 4:57 p.m. Leo Avenue at Pershing Drive.
  • Theft arrest 9:18 p.m. on 13700 East 14th Street.
  • Arson reported 11:01 p.m. on the 200 block of Estudillo Avenue. 
Bay City News Service and Dixie Jordan contributed to this report.
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