POULSBO, Wash. — Poulsbo police are looking for three men claiming to repair defective Takata airbags for elderly people.
"It was an unmarked pickup truck they weren’t in any sort of uniforms," said Deputy Chief John Halsted of Poulsbo police.
Halstead added, "It's frustrating because most elderly people, they're on a budget."
John Denend said that the men approached his 87-year-old neighbor on Wednesday.
“At the very beginning the guy had told me he had been sent out by the Buick dealer on Auto Center Way,” said Denend.
Denend added, "The tallest one introduced himself to me when I went over I asked him what they were doing and they said they came over to check his airbags.”
Even though something didn't seem right, he let it go, until his elderly neighbor told him how much he paid for the repairs.
"He said it cost me $1,541 and I says for what?"
Then Denend saw what was supposed to be an invoice written by the men, which was on a yellow piece of paper with writing from a Sharpie marker.
"It looked like a fifth-grader had written it, and I said 'this is all you got?'"
The men went to a nearby Bank of America to cash the check but the bank didn't cash it because it wasn't dated. The suspects then went back to the victim's home to get it dated and cashed the check.
After Denend heard about the cashed check, he called 911, and then called the dealership the men claimed to be from.
"I called the Buick dealer and they said we would never do business that way we would never send out a mobile mechanic to work on somebody's car. in their driveway," said Denend.
Police said one of the suspects has been identified from bank surveillance video.
Detectives believe the men travel from town to town targeting vulnerable people.
"I think we all have a soft spot in our hearts for the elderly and also victims that are young so if you’re going to do this we’re going to put the extra effort into making sure you're held accountable," said Halsted.
Detectives are also investigating if there are more victims connected to this scam.
"We're going to investigate these crimes fully," said Halsted.
KIRO
