STOUGHTON, MASS. (WHDH) - Police in Stoughton are turning to the public for help in tracking down a man who they say posed as a member of the water department and forced his way into an elderly resident’s home on Saturday afternoon.
Officers responding to a report of a home invasion on Halliden Place around 1:30 p.m. learned that a Spanish-speaking man wearing a lanyard had stated “water department,” pushed the homeowner aside, and demanded to see the water meter, according to Stoughton police.
Once in the basement, police said the elderly resident knew the suspect was not who he claimed to be. She then reached for the phone to dial 911 but it was said to be ripped from the woman’s hand. The suspect then apparently tried to rip the phone off the wall and the woman ran upstairs.
The intruder, who was captured on surveillance camera leaving the house through a basement door, is described as light-skinned with a clean-cut beard. He was said to be wearing a black winter hat, a Bluetooth headset, a blue jacket, and work gloves.
Anyone who may have seen a man fitting the suspect’s description is asked to contact the Stoughton Police Department at 781-344-2424.
“We also ask that if anyone comes to your home for a random spot check, you keep them outside if possible and call the company they represent directly. You never have to allow anyone into your home without confirmation of who he or she is and the company for whom the person works,” the department said in a press release.
The incident remains under investigation.
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