Man Swindled Out of $110 at Dearborn Office Max
The following information was supplied by the Dearborn Police Department. Where arrests or charges are mentioned, it does not indicate a conviction.
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A Detroit resident shopping at the Dearborn Office Max said someone claiming to be an employee stole $110 from him, according to police reports.
The man was shopping at the store around 4:15 p.m. on Tuesday when a man identifying himself as an employee offered to help "speed up" the check-out process, given the long line at the time.
He guided the shopper to another counter and proceeded to add up the cost of the items in his cart. He told the shopper to give him $110 and to go get some extra notebooks while he began to ring up the purchase. The shopper complied.
When he returned with the notebooks, the supposed employee was gone—with his money.
The suspect was described as a black male between the ages of 30-35; around 5-foot-10 and with a heavy build. He was wearing a long, plaid coat with a fur hoot; a gray T-shirt; blue jeans; white tennis shoes; and a black cap.
A similar scheme took place in December at the Dearborn Toys 'R' Us. In that incident, a couple was swindled out of $180 by the suspect.
Neither suspect was caught by Dearborn police.
For questions on this crime report, email dearborn@patch.com.
In This article
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OfficeMax
5801 Mercury Dr, Dearborn, MI -
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Toys 'R' Us
24411 Michigan Ave, Dearborn, MI
Tom B
8:36 am on Sunday, January 20, 2013
Is this stealing or just stupidity? Me thinks more of the latter.
Pam
10:11 am on Sunday, January 20, 2013
Maybe so but I think the business should have better control over their premises. No one should be able to go to a counter and play clerk.
Chicago Way
5:12 pm on Sunday, January 20, 2013
Now let's see: The Office Max shopper follows a man "wearing a long, plaid coat with a fur hood; a gray T-shirt; blue jeans; white tennis shoes; and a black cap" to a check out counter. The report says that the perpetrator dressed as a street person added up the order, but on what? Did the perp simply use his head or a calculator? If the perp used the cash register, why didn't he just empty the cash drawer?
There are 2 explanations: 1.) The customer and the perp are a team, or 2.) The customer is so gullible that $110 is cheap lesson that he will likely remember the rest of his life. The first explanation is the more likely as nobody is dumb enough to give a person dressed for the out of doors $110 in cash without taking his goods with him.