Holiday Tip: Arborland Mall parking lot "witness" scam

During this holiday season, news agencies have bombarded us with cost-cutting ways to “shop the bargains” and fill the malls.Â

Wisely, most have also reminded us to hide all of our valuables in our trunks instead of leaving them on the back seat in plain view for thieves. They've reminded shoppers to be aware in parking lots and avoid being so overburdened with bundles of bags, boxes and packages in our hands that we can’t observe our surroundings - much less mount any sort of resistance to a thief determined to snatch something from us and run.Â

If you read the articles I write, you’ll recognize these common themes of crime prevention:Â LOCK IT UP, DON’T LEAVE IT UNATTENDED, BE AWARE AND WATCH OUT FOR YOUR NEIGHBORS.Â

Some of my critics scoff that the crime prevention tips I write are common sense. Perhaps they are, but people are still victimized every day - even in this Utopian hamlet we call Ann Arbor. I know, I read the police reports for 13 years. It was my responsibility to keep people safe and crime rates down by assigning some very talented detectives to investigate the crimes and apprehend the criminals.Â

Now that I’m retired, I still want to help. I think education and awareness are key. So I will persevere trying to make Ann Arbor and Washtenaw County safer and less hospitable to criminals.

A few years ago, a man had a scam in the Arborland Mall parking lot, where he would slink through looking for lone elderly women returning to their cars. He would run up to them out of breath and tell the women another car had damaged their vehicle and was driving away.Â

If the woman hurried, with the assistance of this interloping “witness,” she could catch the car and get a plate number to give to the police. Speed was of the essence, and they must hurry because the car was getting away!

Once inside the woman's car, the scammer would direct her out onto Washtenaw Avenue and Â would search through the traffic, looking for the offending vehicle. A few minutes into the futile search, the scammer would inform the woman it was no use, the car had gotten away.

The crook would then suggest he took time out of his busy day to assist the woman, and it certainly must be worth some cash. She's now faced with a scary, physically imposing stranger in her car demanding money before he will get out. Naturally, the terrified women gave up the cash. Obviously, there had been no accident, no damage, this was just a scam using a perceived emergency and then intimidation to obtain the loot.

This happened several times until it was observed by a true Good Samaritan who witnessed the shocked look of panic on a victim’s face. This bystander came up to see what was going on and yelled for other people in the parking lot to assist.Â

The suspect yelled that he was being harassed and stormed off while one of the witnesses called the police. Patrol officers caught the scamp, and he was identified in other cases and locked up. What a great example of an alert citizen aware of his surroundings watching out for a neighbor. Let’s look out for each other this holiday season!

Rich Kinsey is a retired Ann Arbor police detective sergeant who now blogs about crime and safety on AnnArbor.com.