Muskogee Police Search For Man Posing As Utility Employee

One man apparently talked his way inside a house, then stole from an elderly woman who trusted he was there to repair a short in her electric.<br />

Wednesday, February 26th 2014, 6:37 pm

By: Craig Day


Muskogee police want people to watch out for crooks posing as utility workers.

One man apparently talked his way inside a house, then stole from residents.

Twyla Wright has a new pet, a big German shepherd.

Wright said she'd never let a stranger inside her Muskogee home, but that's what she did, when a man posing as an electric company employee pulled up as she was unloading groceries.

"[He] says, ‘I'm from the electric company and you have a short inside your house,'" Wright said.

He was very convincing, even helped to carry her groceries inside and asked to look at the breaker box.

"He was a smooth talker, just as nice as he could be," she said.

After supposedly checking the breaker box, that smooth talker told Wright she needed to turn on all the lights in the house.

As she went from room to room, he took money from her purse.

"If I would have used my head, he didn't have any instruments to check anything," she said.

Only later, as the man was leaving, did she get suspicious and discovered money was missing.

"They're stealing money from you, now that makes me mad," she said.

She's mad at herself for not asking for identification or double checking with the electric company. But also upset that scam artists are targeting the elderly.

"They're picking on people who are vulnerable, they really are," she said.

Police also say the man asked Wright a lot of personal questions, like if anyone lived with her and when she would be home for him to return to fix the supposed electric problem.

Investigators believe it may have been because he intended to come back and steal more things from her house.

"Why isn't he working and making his own money?" she said.

Police say the man is white, 6-foot tall with a medium build. He also has sandy brown hair cut above the ears.

He was driving a white, newer model extended cab pickup.

While her daughter's German shepherd is keeping watch, Wright hopes the man is caught soon.

"I'd probably bawl him out," she said.

Investigators say if anyone sees anything suspicious or out of the ordinary, they should call the Muskogee Police Department tip line at 918-682-COPS.

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