Thieves Posing As Utility Workers Burglarize Woman's Home In Echo Park

ANGELINO HEIGHTS (CBSLA.com) — Los Angeles police are warning residents in Angelino Heights, a community in Echo Park, about men posing as utility workers and preying on an elderly woman.

Aurora Ramirez, 86, who lives by herself, was robbed Friday morning. She said it started when a young man outside her home on Bellevue Avenue asked to speak with her.

Wearing Levi's jeans, a white, collared shirt and black suede shoes, he told the victim he and his crew were working on a nearby broken pipe, and somebody had dropped a chemical in it.

He told her he wanted to make sure her water was OK and asked her to turn on a hose in the front of the house then turn on the one in the back.

Ramirez said she had no idea that during the five minutes they were outside, a second man had gone inside through the front door.

He grabbed a pillowcase and emptied out her jewelry box. When the two men left, Ramirez discovered that $4,000 worth of her jewelry was gone.

She said the thieves took only the expensive stuff and what was priceless to her: wedding and engagement rings.

"I don't have a husband no more. He passed away five years ago. So, they took it, and I just want that - the set and the wedding rings. I don't care about other things," the victim added.

She wants the thieves to stop taking advantage of the elderly. "Not to do that because what you do to others, somebody's going do to your mom, or somebody's going to do that to him," Ramirez said.