Murrieta, California - Murrieta Police Officers are investigating a residential burglary that occurred on Saturday, 10/27/07 at about 11:30 a.m.The victim, who is in her 70’s, answered a knock on her front door. A man dressed in a utility worker uniform, claimed to be working for the water district and told the victim he needed to check the water pressure inside the victim’s home. The impostor utility worker came inside the home and turned on a water faucet in the laundry room and requested the victim to monitor the water flow from the faucet while he went to flush toilets throughout the home.


A short time later, the utility worker returned to the laundry room and told the victim that everything checked O.K. The utility worker left the residence. The victim later discovered her wallet and its contents missing from her formerly zippered purse that was stored in her bedroom.

The impostor utility worker is described as a male hispanic, 45 years of age, wearing a utility type uniform. He was wearing a black baseball cap with a green and blue logo. He had a tattoo on his upper left arm and was carrying a clipboard.

As a public safety reminder, please be aware that authorized utility workers have photo identification cards issued to them and will usually have it displayed on their person. Legitimate utility workers normally do not request to come inside your home unless the resident has already requested service. This incident occurred on a Saturday and most utility services do not normally field service workers on weekends. Don’t be shy about requesting photo identification from a stranger before letting them into your home.

Anyone with information about this crime is encouraged to call the Murrieta Police at 696-3615.