Blotter: Man reports scam by supposed grandson

An 86-year-old man told Denton police Tuesday that he was bilked out of $2,250 by a man pretending to be his grandson.

The victim said the supposed grandson called and said he was in a jail on drug charges in Horton Bay, British Columbia, Canada. The caller said he and a friend were stopped by police, who found marijuana in his car. The caller said the controlled substance wasn’t his and he didn’t know it was in his car.

He called the man “Pa Pa,” but the caller didn’t sound exactly like his grandson, according to the report.

The caller asked the man to send money for bail via Federal Express to Lima, Peru.

The man said that shortly after sending the money, he received another call from the supposed grandson. The caller handed the phone to a person claiming to be Canadian lieutenant, who recommended sending $1,700 to pay for a good lawyer.

The man said he became suspicious and called his son, who said the grandson was in Illinois and was not in any trouble. An investigation is continuing.

Other reports

2000 block of Mark Twain Lane — A woman reported that she arrived home and found her garage door open and believed she saw the door leading from the garage to the kitchen moving.

She said she left home about 9:30 a.m. and returned about 1:30 p.m. She said she was positive she had closed the garage door and locked all her doors. She stayed outside until officers arrived.

The officers found no one inside, but the house been ransacked and television sets and a speaker tower were missing.

2200 block of West Oak Street — A woman reported that someone broke into her car between 9:30 p.m. Monday and 9:30 a.m. Tuesday and took her $1,200 Louis Vuitton handbag. She said she removed her wallet but left a makeup bag full of cosmetics in the purse.

2500 block of Interstate 35E — Someone broke windows on four vehicles sometime during the night Tuesday or early Wednesday, according to police reports. Three owners reported their vehicles were ransacked but nothing was missing. The fourth victim could not be located.

Roundup

From 7 a.m. Tuesday to 7 a.m. Wednesday:

•  Denton police handled 251 service and officer-initiated calls, including three burglaries, one report of criminal mischief, eight vehicle burglaries, two frauds, two thefts, two assaults, one domestic disturbance, one overdose and one criminal trespass.

•  Denton County sheriff’s dispatchers handled 609 service and officer-initiated calls for the agencies they serve. Thirty-eight people were booked into county jail. Deputies took reports of one deceased person and two thefts.

•  Denton firefighters responded to 17 medical calls, two traffic accidents and one cooking fire.

Argyle firefighters responded to five medical calls.

Aubrey firefighters responded to one alarm, four medical calls, one structure fire and one vehicle fire.

Double Oak firefighters responded to one medical call.

Krum firefighters responded to one alarm, five medical calls, one suicide attempt and one traffic accident.

Lake Cities firefighters responded to one alarm, two requests to assist a citizen, five medical calls and one structure fire.

Oak Point firefighters responded to one medical call.

Ponder firefighters responded to one medical call.

Sanger firefighters responded to one suicide attempt and one medical call.

— Donna Fielder