Police: Female Thief Took Gold Jewelry From Elderly Couple, Replaced It With Plastic
LOS ANGELES (CBSLA) — Police say a group of female thieves ripped off an elderly couple of their jewelry in their own driveway, and it was all caught on video.
The unidentified couple was in their Panorama City driveway Saturday when an SUV stopped and flagged them down. The couple's son says the woman who got out of the car told them as part of their culture and beliefs, they wanted to give them gifts.
Felipe Salazar, who did not want to show his face on camera, says the apparent thieves told his parents they wanted to give gifts to people just because they are blessed.
"It's all just bogus," he said.
Video shows the woman reaching around Salazar's mother's neck, before patting her back in a hug. She then moves to grasp Salazar's father's hands.
"So they wrapped a chain around my mom's neck and at that moment they were removing her actual jewelry," Salazar said. "They did the same thing to my dad and they actually took his wedding rings."
The woman replaced the couple's gold necklaces and rings with plastic trinkets, getting away with $2,000 worth of jewelry.
The woman and four other people inside the SUV drove off with Salazar's parents' jewelry. The SUV was described to be a newer model black Infiniti QX80.
Salazar says he and his parents want other people to be aware of the scam.
"Eventually it's gonna catch up to you and there's nothing unseen. Everything we do, good and bad, it catches up with us," he said.
