Palo Alto police said today (Feb. 24) that they are investigating two occurances of a jewelry theft scam on the same day.
Police were called by a man in his 80 reporting his ring worth over $1,000 had been stolen off him, Capt. James Reifschneider said.
The man was talking on the sidewalk at Nelson Drive and Adoble Place around 3 p.m. on Friday when a dark gray sedan pulled up next to him, Reifschneider said.
The woman in the car asked the man for directions. The man responded, and she got out of the car and tried to put jewelry on the man, Reifschneider said. The man tried to push the woman away. She got into the car and left.
When the man got home, he realized the woman had stolen his ring while trying to put the jewelry on him, Reifschneider said.
On Saturday, a woman in her 70s called police to report that something similar had occurred on Friday at 4:30 p.m. near Williams St. and Stanford Ave.
The woman’s description was almost identical to what had occurred to the man, but she had clung to her jewelry, and the woman who had asked for directions wasn’t able to get anything off of her, Reifschneider said.
Police think these two incidents are related and are investigating whether there is any connection to similar cases in other cities. The San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office warned residents of the jewelry scam in October.
Anyone with information is asked to call 650-329-2413.
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