THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, August 2, 1996 TAG: 9608020446
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B4 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JOHN-HENRY DOUCETTE, CORRESPONDENT
DATELINE: CHESAPEAKE LENGTH: 47 lines
In warnings faxed from office to office, local real estate agents have been told to beware a con artist who poses as a potential home buyer only to relieve office workers of their wallets.
Several witnesses have described the suspect as a 30- to 40-year-old black woman with an orange or yellow streak in her hair.
All of her victims have been women who left purses unattended.
The Hampton Roads Real Estate Association recently faxed a theft alert to area real estate agencies, saying that ``no less than five real estate offices in the Battlefield Blvd./Great Bridge area of Chesapeake have been robbed today.''
Chesapeake Police said Thursday that they could not confirm the association's report.
Officer Elizabeth Jones of the Chesapeake Police Department's public information office said detectives are following up on a ``very strong'' suspect and that Virginia Beach police said at least one theft in that city appears to be linked to the Chesapeake incidents.
Carole W. Foster, a 47-year-old agent at Century 21 Accord on the 1300 block of Military Highway in Greenbrier, said she became a victim July 3.
Foster said the woman was pleasant but seemed nervous. She said her name was Sheila Davis and she was looking for a new home.
Foster invited the woman into her office to discuss buying a house. Foster left the woman alone to complete an application, leaving her office unattended.
Later she ran into the woman leaving via the hallway. She said she was heading home to go over the paperwork with her husband.
Within 30 minutes, Foster picked up her purse. ``It felt light,'' she said.
Her wallet was on its way to Best department store, where one of Foster's credit cards was used to make a $1,300 purchase.
On July 23, a woman who fit the description but identified herself as Cheryl Davis entered the William E. Wood office in Kempsville. A receptionist left to find an agent. When the receptionist returned she found the person behind the desk. The woman said she had needed to use the phone, then left soon after.
Virginia Beach and Chesapeake police have advised real estate agents to be careful and not to leave valuables unattended.
It is advice Carole Foster has taken to heart. ``She's fast and she's good,'' Foster said.
KEYWORDS: SCAM ROBBERY by CNB