Long Island woman, 90, tips off police, helps scuttle scam
GREENLAWN, N.Y. -- A 90-year-old woman turned the tables on a pair of alleged con artists targeting senior citizens, leading to their capture by police on Long Island, CBS New York reported.
Dottie Sundberg, who the station says is considered a "firecracker" in her Paumanack Village senior apartment community in Suffolk County, helped detectives nab the suspects Monday -- although not before police say she was ripped off, too.
Police say a well-dressed man and woman were going door to door at the apartment complex that's home to 200 seniors, showing them brochures falsely representing a Catholic church.
"You have to give," Sundberg said. "So I save a dollar a day, and at the end of the year, I have 300 bucks, whatever. So I counted out my dollars, and I gave it to them."
Ashe also got distracted, the station reported, allowing the con artists to make off with an iPad.
Many in the complex who were approached by the duo said the scammers claimed the proceeds would go to diocesan charities for Lenten and Easter celebrations.
"She said, 'Well, we're here for the church, for Lent, to collect money for the poor, and we only have a short amount of time," Maria Miranda told CBS New York.
"They were very polished," another woman said.
"That goes with being a senior," one man added. "You're easy prey."
But what the duo didn't realize is that Sundberg, a retired nurse, had called the cops.
"Immediately -- I don't think it was two minutes -- I call the police, and they were here pronto," Sundberg said.
Sean DiStefano, 24, and Heather Marchese, 23, are charged with a hate crime for targeting the elderly. DiStefano is being held on $75,000 bond, and Marchese is being held on $40,000 bond.
"The people who were targeted were targeted because of their age," said Detective Sgt. James Brierton of the Suffolk County Police Department's Hate Crime Squad. "And in New York state, the New York state penal law says if you're over 60 and you target a person based on that criteria, it ups the crime to a hate crime charge."
Both of the suspects pleaded not guilty, CBS New York reported.