Police: Scam Artists Using Baby As Distraction

DEARBORN (WWJ) - Dearborn police have issued a warning to area residents about scam artists with a baby who are targeting the elderly.

The alert follows an incident this week when a man, together with a woman and a baby, came to an older woman's front door and tried to convince her they were long-lost friends. They allegedly placed the baby boy on the 94-year-old woman's lap in her wheelchair, claiming they were former neighbors who just wanted to catch up.

After chatting with the woman for a little while inside the home, the strangers said they had to leave. That's when the woman went to her bedroom where she found her belongings disturbed and some tax papers and a key missing.

Police say the incident resembles several similar crimes in the area in which a baby or small child was used as a distraction during a robbery.

The Wayne County Prosecutor's office is pursuing cases in the neighboring cities, Dearborn police detectives are working leads that may lead to the identification of the perpetrators.

Anyone with information is asked to please call the Dearborn Police Department's tip line at (313) 943-3012.