'Bad' Samaritan? Man Allegedly Scams Disabled Woman After Helping Her Fix Her Car

Authorities suspect a man who helped a mentally disabled 32-year-old West Des Moines resident fix her car may have bilked her out of more than $3,000 and made attempts to get more cash from her checking account.

Officer Tom Wynne took a report earlier this week from the woman’s brother, who became involved after a clerk at a Carroll County bank called his sister to warn her that an unidentified man had asked if there was enough money in her account to cash a $3,000 check.

According to the report, the woman called a co-worker on April 29 when her car malfunctioned on Jordan Creek Parkway and asked if he could help. He did, and nothing out of the ordinary occurred.

When the lights on her vehicle malfunctioned about a week later, she called her co-worker again. He reportedly told the woman he was unable to respond, but an acquaintance might be able to help if she could pick him up because he didn’t have a vehicle.

She did, and drove the man to her home to make the repairs.

At that point, the man allegedly asked the woman for an $800 loan. She went to several ATMs to withdraw the money, and he reportedly gave her a post-dated $800 check. Within the next week or so, the man borrowed additional money, again giving the woman post-dated checks in the amounts of $460 and $2,000.

Each of the three checks was written on a closed account, according to the report. The woman’s brother told authorities  that two checks were missing from his sister’s checkbook. He said she has not heard from him since April 29 and has no way of contacting him.

The victim has since closed her checking account.