Man Found Soliciting Has Numerous Warrants Pending in New London

On Dec. 23 Norwalk Patrol Officers responded to a complaint that two males approached children exiting a school bus on Golden Hill Street, police said in a statement Thursday.

Investigating officers found that two males, wearing Santa and antler hats had approached the children and asked them to have their parents come out of their house to watch a cleaning demonstration, police said.

The children quickly left and told their parents, who called police.

The men had left the area in a red van prior to police arrival. Investigating officers quickly located the van on Morton Street. It was determined that the occupants of the van were soliciting cleaning services on behalf of Gold Coast Distributors of Milford, police said.

One of the solicitors provided his name but intentionally misspelled it to mislead the investigating officers, police said.

However, the solicitor’s supervisor provided the officers with the proper spelling, which led officers to find numerous arrest warrants for solicitor, Omari Matthews.

Matthews was arrested and transported to the Norwalk Police Department for processing.

The remaining solicitors were given verbal warning for soliciting without a permit.

Matthews, 27, of 710 Savin Avenue in West Haven, was found to have nine failure to appear warrants from New London, Norwich and Troop E.

Matthews also had active warrants with the West Haven and New London Police Departments. He is charged with interfering with an officer stemming from the Norwalk incident.

Here are some guidelines on how to help protect you and your family from illegal solicitors:

If you do not know the person, do not open the door. Never feel obligated to greet an unfamiliar person knocking at your door.

Always keep doors and windows locked. Storm doors or security doors are helpful when dealing with solicitors, because you can see and speak safely through the door. Never allow an unfamiliar person into your house.

Solicitors must have a business license and permit. Call your local law enforcement agency if a solicitor is aggressively attempting to get into your home or refusing to show their license/permit. Do not expect all perpetrators of door-to-door sales scams to look the part.

Some are clean and well dressed and use special techniques to try to get into your home or get your money. Always use extreme caution before providing any personal or financial information.

If you are not interested, simply close the door and lock it. You do not owe the person an explanation. Stand in front of your home to see what is visible from the street.

If you can see your valuable items through the front windows, so can potential burglars.

Residents can put a “no solicitors” sign on their door to help keep solicitors away.