Woman nearly robbed by water department look alike

An elderly woman let a would-be robber into her South San Francisco house after he claimed he was a water department employee checking for dirty water in the neighborhood.

The man came to the woman’s door and identified himself as a water department employee at approximately 9:35 a.m. on Tuesday. The woman, who is visually impaired, led the man into her kitchen where he pretended to check the water from the sink. The man then coaxed the woman to the backyard where he said he needed to check the yard faucet, according to South San Francisco police.

The woman’s nephew rang the doorbell when the woman and robbery suspect were in the backyard. The woman left the yard to answer the door and the man in the backyard went to the bedroom and ransacked the nightstand for valuables, according to police.

The man found no valuables in the nightstand and fled through the backyard, according to police.

The man is described as between 5 foot 9 inches and 5 foot 10 inches tall, medium to heavy build, wearing a uniform with a name tag. The woman was not able to provide more details because of her vision impairment, according to police.

Anyone with information about this case or similar cases should call the South San Francisco Police Department at 877-8900.