Man, 85, scammed out of $4K by man he met in Petaluma Trader Joe’s parking lot
(KRON) — A man was arrested for allegedly scamming an elderly man out of $4,000 in Petaluma in May, the Petaluma Police Department said Wednesday. The suspect, 25-year-old Florian Matei out of Sacramento, has been connected to similar behavior in the past, police said.
Police began investigating the situation after receiving a missing persons report for the 85-year-old victim. He disappeared after leaving home to go to Trader Joe’s.
The man’s car was left abandoned in the parking lot. His family told police they were on the phone with him before he disappeared, and they heard another voice in the background trying to sell him jewelry.
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Officers pinged the victim’s phone and discovered it was in Cotati. His last bank transaction was at a local casino.
The victim came back to his car about an hour later and was immediately contacted by police. PPD said a man approached him offering to sell gold jewelry.
The suspect drove the victim to several banks and a casino in an attempt to get him to withdraw cash. He withdrew $4,000 in total and gave it to the suspect before being taken back to the Trader Joe’s parking lot. The jewelry was determined to be fake.
Police took surveillance video from the casino and identified the suspect’s vehicle. Matei was found to be the suspect. He was contacted by the Daly City Police Department for similar behavior in December.
PPD secured a warrant for Matei’s arrest. He was located at the Plaza shopping center on June 7 and arrested.
Police later learned that Matei was using an alias and his identity was verified with a fingerprint system. He was on the run from authorities in Fairfax, VA, where he had open warrants for abduction by force and robbery by force.
Matei was booked into Sonoma County Jail for felony financial elder abuse.
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