Man Impersonating Utility Worker Reported Going Door to Door in Altadena

An Altadena resident is reporting a suspicious man wearing an orange vest and claiming to be a utility worker came to her door on Tuesday, according to posts on a local email forum.

The man asked the resident if she had a dog in her back yard and said he needed to inspect the power lines.  When she asked for identification, he ran off.

Virgina Cordova, a crime analyst with the Sheriff's Department who was monitoring the email forum spoke with the resident, and released the following description of the man and an associate of his who was parked in a truck:

"This is the description obtained from a resident:  #1 male, Caucasian, early to mid 20’s, black curly hair, average height, thin build and #2 male, Hispanic, mid 20’s to early 30’s, slightly heavy set, beard and moustache.  The males were seen in a small white pickup truck with some unidentifiable logo.  Subjects were seen in the area of New York Dr. and Maiden Ln. and several other areas around 12:00 pm into the early afternoon."

Lt. Duane Allen of the Altadena Sheriff's Station confirmed that the incident had been reported to the Sheriff's Department.  He said the department has contacted Southern California Edison to see whether they had any trucks in the area, though based on the description, he said, it appears to be someone impersonating an Edison worker.

Allen said he does not recall previous reports of fake utility workers, and said that a more common tactic for fraud he is familiar with has been people pretending to sell magazine subscriptions.

Cordova noted that Southern California Edison employees do not wear orange vests and included an Edison flyer showing their official uniforms.  The flyer also notes that scams involving people posing as Edison workers do happen from time to time.

Edison workers should also be able to show employee identification if they come to your door, according to the flyer.

Unusual door-to-door visitors with possible criminal motivations are nothing new in Altadena, as the below stories attest to: