Fake Glendale Water & Power employee steals $6,000 in cash, jewelry

A man impersonating a Glendale Water & Power employee stole about $6,000 in cash and jewelry Wednesday from an East Glendale home, officials said.

The man knocked on the home’s front door at about 2:30 p.m. on the 1400 block of East Wilson Avenue. Under the guise of checking on water quality, the man told the homeowner that he was a Glendale Water and Power employee and had to check the faucets in the kitchen and bathroom, according to Glendale police reports.

“We have seen this [scam] before,” utility spokeswoman Atineh Haroutunian said. “We don’t go knocking door-to-door. We never ask to go inside your home to check on water quality.”

The homeowner asked the man for identification, but he told her that he left it in his car, so she allowed him to enter.

Once he was inside, he entered the kitchen and turned on the kitchen faucet. He told the homeowner and her son that the water had the odor of urine and that the rain must have caused damage, according to police reports.

The man asked them to watch the running faucet water for 10 minutes while he went outside to make repairs. When he didn’t return, the homeowner noticed that her cash and valuables were missing.

The homeowner and her son described the man as white, 35 to 40 years old, about 5 foot 9 inches tall and 180 pounds with brown eyes and black hair. He wore a blue T-shirt and jeans.