Fake worker scams 90-year-old woman out of $1.6K in jewelry

Man leaves door unlocked for second person to steal jewelry from Giocomina Arnone

CORAL SPRINGS, Fla. – A man posing as a city of Coral Springs employee scammed a 90-year-old woman out of more than $1,600 worth of jewelry.

The man, described as being 29 - 35 years old with dark hair, knocked on Giocomina Arnone's door in the 1500 block of Riverwood Lane about 2 p.m. on Sept. 19.

"He was young and he was so nice," she said. "I believe him like a fool."

He told the Arnone he left a card on her door the week before and needed to check a tree in her back yard that needed to be trimmed.

"He said to me, 'I'm sent from city hall to cut those trees in the back,'" she recalled.

While Arnone went into the back yard with him, another person went into her house and stole the jewelry.

"I went to get my rosary -- it was gone. Everything was gone," she said. "I stood there and shook."

The man posing as a city employee told Arnone someone would be coming to trim the tree, then left in a small, black pickup truck. She told police that he never showed her any city credentials.

"That animal that came in and took my things. He took so much," said Arnone. "How could you do that to a woman? I'm 90 years old. You do that to a woman that's 90?"

Anyone with information on the incident is asked to call the Coral Springs Police Department at 954-346-1773.