Elderly Woman Targeted in Home Repair Scam

STAMFORD, CT - Stamford Police have arrested a pair of men who they said tried to scam an elderly city resident with a home repair ruse.

It was on March 15 when an 83-year-old Dunn Avenue resident called police to report that she may have been the victim of a possible scam. The woman reported that she was approached on March 14 by two Hispanic men who promised her that they could fix her overhead garage door for $4,000.

"At that point the males drove her to the bank to withdraw the money but luckily the bank was closed. They relayed that they would come back in the morning to pick up the money and start the job," according to a statement issued by Capt. Richard Conklin and Lt. Diedrich Hohn.

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The Stamford Police Property Crimes Unit in concert with the Patrol Division established a sting in an attempt to identify the suspects.

About 9:30 a.m. March 15, the suspects returned to the residence in a pickup truck and Property Crimes Officers moved in and detained them. The victim was able to cooperate and identify that the two H/M’s were the same two individuals that came to her residence the day before. Property Crime Officers discovered that the males had no tools, receipt books or contracts that would be necessary to consummate a contracting agreement.

The two suspects were identified as Anthony Miguel, 223, of 268 Main Ave., Norwalk, and Steve Miguel, 35, whose last known address was in Philadelphia PA.

Both were charged with Criminal Attempt at second-degree larceny and conspiracy to commit second-degree larceny.

Conklin and Hohn said, "We believe Steve Miguel was the mastermind of this crime and that he may be part of a larger criminal organization who deceives and preys on the elderly. When running his criminal history he has numerous arrests in the Philadelphia area for Burglary, Larcenies, Deception, Identity Theft, and Receiving stolen Property.

"On June 4, 2015 Steve Miguel was arrested in Philadelphia for Theft by Deception, Burglary, Home Improvement Fraud, Impersonation and being part of a Corrupt Organization. We are currently looking into the correlation of this arrest with this arrest from Philadelphia," the investigators said.

Police said that when they interviewed the victim, "she also relayed that she paid $35,000 last month to conduct some roofing repairs to several individuals. We believe that this was also a case of deceptive practices against the victim and are currently looking into this."

Conklin and Hohn said, "The Stamford Police Department vigorously investigates crimes against the elderly and would like to commend the victim for having the courage to report this. The Stamford Police go to great lengths to keep members of the Stamford’s elderly community safe and this arrest is an example of how serious we investigate these crimes when they are brought to our attention."

They also are asking for the public’s assistance if they have seen these individuals in the Stamford area or are aware of any other victims that may have been preyed upon to please notify the Stamford Police Property Crimes Division at 203-977-4407.

Stamford Police photos: Stephen Miguel, left; Anthony Miguel.