POMPANO BEACH, Fla. – An Oakland Park commissioner is being credited with helping deputies identify a man who posed as a utility worker in an attempt to scam his elderly neighbor.
Tim Lonergan thought it was unusual when two men wearing reflective safety vests and hard hats stepped out of a black Mercedes Benz parked in the driveway of his 87-year-old neighbor's Pompano Beach home last month. So he took photographs of the car and its license plate.
Broward Sheriff's Office deputies said Lonergan went to check on his neighbor and found one man talking to her near the back door while another man was walking out of her bedroom. Deputies said Lonergan's neighbor didn't even know the other man was in her house.
As Lonergan questioned them, the men said they were there to check for leaks, but neither wore city identification badges.
Detectives used Lonergan's pictures to link Tom Bimbo, 49, to the car. Lonergan also identified Bimbo from a photographic lineup as one of the two men.
An arrest warrant has been issued for Bimbo, who faces a charge of burglary of an occupied dwelling. Anyone with information as to his whereabouts is asked to call detectives at 954-202-3118.