Door-to-Door Fund Drive Called Work of Con Man

A man pleading that he needed money to pay for his daughter’s emergency medical treatment has been knocking on doors in Panorama City and North Hollywood late at night, finding about a dozen people who responded generously to his plight.

The problem is, according to Kaiser Permanente Medical Center in Panorama City, he’s a con man.

Kaiser officials started getting suspicious when switchboard operators began receiving phone calls April 1 from people asking about the condition of a little girl whose father had asked them for money so the hospital would treat her for a head injury.

He asked them for between $21 and $24, explaining that he did not belong to the membership-only hospital and that his daughter needed immediate help.

But the hospital had no record of such a person ever seeking medical treatment there, the puzzled callers were told.

The situation would never arise, hospital officials say. “Anyone needing immediate care is not turned away,” said Karen Large, a hospital spokeswoman.

So, when operators began hearing the same story repeatedly, they became suspicious.

“After about four or five calls, they asked people to call the police because something strange was going on,” said Pearl Diamond, director of communications at the hospital.

To date, the hospital has received about 15 calls, all telling the same story.

One woman who called Tuesday was so touched by the plight of the man, who gave his name as Louis Garcia, that she and her boyfriend drove him after midnight to her automated bank teller for $20.

Los Angeles Police Lt. Joseph Garcia said police had received only one report of the alleged scam and were unaware that it was so widespread.

Garcia said it is easy for people to fall prey to such a scam.

“A little kid who needs help, who’s going to say no?” he said.