Nassau County Police Release Sketch, Surveillance Photo In Distraction Burglary Cases
MERRICK, N.Y. (CBSNewYork) -- Nassau County police have released a surveillance photo and another sketch in hopes of finding at least two suspects wanted in connection with a series of distraction burglaries.
Police said since Dec. 9, teams featuring two woman and sometimes a man have targeted senior citizens in Wantagh, Massapequa Park, Jericho, West Hempstead, Oceanside and Merrick.
In each incident, one of the suspects would pose as a fence worker or a new neighbor and attempt to lure the victims into their yard while another suspect sneaked into the house and made off with cash and jewelery.
1010 WINS Reporter Mona Rivera Reports...
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It happened to 81-year-old Gil Sorenson and his wife, Marie, at their Massapequa Park home around noon on Dec. 27. A woman told Gil the following about his fence:
"'It's damaged here and needs to be repaired. You can just have this be repaired.' And all of a sudden, I'm ... she's over here, I'm in the corner. I said, 'will you get out of my way?' All of a sudden, something's wrong," he told CBS 2's Pablo Guzman.
But it was too late. Her partner was in the house. Later, Gil Sorenson helped police make a composite sketch of a woman with bulging eyes, police said. When Marie Sorenson came home, police were in the house. Marie said she went upstairs and her fears were realized.
"My jewelry boxes were gone. The whole box was gone. The two of them. He took everything. He took my good jewelry, plus my everyday jewelry. And he left me with nothing," Marie said.
Police said in some cases, the thieves use two-way radios to communicate with each other.
The suspects have been seen driving in several vehicles including a red car (pictured below), dark minivan -- both with Florida license plates -- and an older blue/gray sedan.
One of the suspects is believed to be 30 years old with a medium build, light complexion and blue eyes.
The other suspect is a Hispanic female between 45 and 50 years old with a stocky build, medium complexion, dark hair and eyes.
Anyone with information is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 1800-244-TIPS (8477).
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