Police Investigating Darby Area Attempted Burglaries
By Diana Rocco
DARBY, Pa., (CBS) -- Police are searching for alleged serial burglars who may have most recently struck in Delaware County.
Police are looking for this man, allegedly part of a burglary ring targeting elderly in several states.
"You feel invaded, that's for one thing."
Bob says before lunch last week a man knocked on his door saying he was from the electric company.
"And he says 'Do you want to take a walk around, I'll show you what we're going to do,'" he said.
While Bob was in the back, police say the suspect radioed to two men in a waiting car. The first stalled Bob, while the other two ran into his apartment.
"He had papers in his hand and everything and he was writing some stuff down on papers and all," he said.
(Reporter:) "Did you believe this guy's story that he actually worked for the electric company?"
"Yeah because the way he was and the way he talked," he said.
Police were alerted by a witness while Bob was still in the backyard. They pulled the two men out of his apartment.
"One cop's got his foot on his head, you know, and he's got the gun on the other guy," he said.
Larry Mitchell, Robert Mitchell and Ricky Parker, who is wanted in two states for burglary, were arrested. Inside their car, stolen items like jewelry, coins, and cash and hundreds of other possible targets.
"Hundreds and hundreds of addresses that had notes written next to them, older, young, no good, good," Collingdale Police Chief Robert Adams said.
Now police say this man and at least two others are still targeting elderly after an attempted burglary was thwarted Wednesday blocks away in Darby. The elderly woman on Main Street was told the water company needed to check for toxins while she waited. A man fitting this description radioed to two others who were inside her apartment. When a neighbor walked in, the three fled.
'We believe very strongly that this has happened to other people in Darby and they just haven't reported it," Darby Borough Police Chief Robert Smythe said.
Utility companies say they will never send a representative to someone's home without calling first. If someone does show up at your door, you can always call that utility company and verify that the worker is who he or she says that they are.
Anyone who thinks they may have fallen victim to this scam or has any information is asked to call police.
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