After a nearly seven-month-long investigation, members of a countywide hate crime ring targeting the elderly were arrested and arraigned, just in time for Elder Abuse Awareness Month.
As the culmination of June signals an end to Elder Abuse Awareness Month, county police departments are working to make residents aware of scams targeting elderly victims. Even more efforts came after leeway was made in late May to catch a hate crime ring that involved house-related repair scams.
On Thursday, May 28, the Albany County District Attorney’s Office announced two members of a hate crime ring pled guilty, while four others were arraigned. Members include residents of Watervliet and Schenectady, while charges ranged from several degrees of grand larceny to conspiracy and scheming to defraud.
However, their crimes spanned throughout Albany County.
“A whole group of people were going to the elderly, specifically targeting elderly people, and approaching them for a variety of scams,” said Det. Sgt. Adam Hornick of the Bethlehem Police Department.
He said scams included alleged paving, painting, fencing and housing issues. A paving scam involved contacting an elderly victim claiming the victim’s driveway needed to be repaired. The person would then buy a bucket of pitch for a relatively small amount of money and paint the driveway to make it appear like work had been done, said Hornick.
The victim would then be charged hundreds of dollars, and the scammers would keep returning to the same victim to make alleged repairs on the driveway, he said.
Another scam involved knocking on an elderly person’s door, asking to come in for a drink of water to get out of the heat, then using the bathroom and clogging the sink to make it overflow. The scammer would repair the clog while another person went into the house to steal money once the victim was distracted.
Two people in this hate crime pled guilty after being arrested by Colonie police. Henry Hick, 58, of Albany, pled guilty May 14 to grand larceny in the third degree as a hate crime and grand larceny in the third degree as a hate crime, both felonies. He faces nine to 18 years in state prison.
John Waterson, 37, of Albany, pled guilty April 1 to grand larceny in the third degree, a felony, and conspiracy in the fifth degree, a misdemeanor. He faces three and a half to seven years in state prison.
According to the Albany County District Attorney’s office, Hicks and Waterson, both alone and with others, overcharged several people more than $3,000 under false pretenses of performing work. The victims were chosen due to their age, said the district attorney’s office.
“The biggest thing is we know there are other victims out there,” said Hornick. Some elderly victims are unable to identify who scammed them, or are embarrassed to have been defrauded.
Hornick said a neighbor contacted police in regards to someone picking up their elderly neighbor several times in Bethlehem, allegedly for trips to the bank to take out money.
According to Hornick, police do not see any more arrests coming, but there may be more charges.
The timeline of the investigation just happened to fall around Elderly Abuse Awareness Month. “These crimes do occur,” said Hornick, and police are working to raise awareness.
Both Bethlehem and Colonie police departments, among other district departments, have programs to make people aware of scams and how to prevent them.
Lt. Robert Winn of the Colonie Police Department said the department works closely with senior service programs in the town.
“We have good, open lines with communication” with the town’s senior service and the Colonie Senior Service Centers, said Winn. The department also has a Community Services division with an officer assigned to the Senior Resources Department.
As well, Bethlehem police works with senior services and sends department members to senior functions in order to describe possible fraudulent activities. There is also a lot of inter-departmental collaboration between police departments in the area, said Hornick. When cases like that involving Hicks and Waterson come up, all angles district wide are investigated, he said.
“We can’t reach the whole (senior) population, but a long-term approach is beneficial,” said Hornick. “It’s even more of a sense of satisfaction to bring a sense of security back to these individuals.”
