Man Swindled Out of $110 at Dearborn Office Max

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.