Florida Duo Charged With Scamming, Stealing from Elderly Farmington Woman

FARMINGTON, CT - Farmington police have arrested a pair of Florida residents who are accused of scamming their way into an elderly woman's residence and stealing money Thursday afternoon.

In a written statement, Lt. Colin Ryan said officers responded to 25 Main Street around 2:48 p.m. for a suspicious person complaint. Upon arrival, they spoke with a person who reported a male and female were soliciting to do some tree work and appeared to have forced their way into an elderly neighbor’s house.

Police detained Virginia Demetro, 44, and Steve Nichols, 47, both of Fort Lauderdale, Fla. The investigation revealed Demetro and Nichols told the elderly female that her roof was leaking and she needed to have some tree work done. The two ended up inside the woman’s residence, and investigation determined they stole $340 in cash from her purse, Ryan said.

Demetro and Nichols were also found to be in possession of some credit cards that belonged to an elderly Simsbury resident. Simsbury police spoke with the owner of the credit cards and it was revealed that the pair had pulled a similar scam on her earlier in the day. The Simsbury victim was also missing some jewelry which was not in the suspect’s possession at the time of the Farmington incident.

Demetro and Nichols were each charged with second-degree burglary, conspiracy to commit second-degree burglary, sixth-degree larceny, conspiracy to commit sixth-degree larceny, criminal attempt to commit second-degree larceny and conspiracy to commit second-degree larceny. Each was held on $175,000 bond, and they were scheduled to be arraigned Friday in Hartford Superior Court.

Simsbury police will be applying for arrest warrants for the incident in their town, Ryan reported.

Anyone who has been a victim of similar scam/burglaries or any agency with similar incidents in their town are asked to call the Farmington Police Department at 860-675-2400 or call the FPD tip-line at 860-675-2483.

Photos courtesy of Farmington Police Department