TAMARAC, FLA. (WSVN) - Broward Sheriff’s Office detectives are asking for the public’s help in identifying a man and woman who posed as city workers to steal jewelry from an elderly woman in Tamarac.
The 87-year-old woman, identified as Ronni, was inside her home, located on the 7100 block of Canella Court, when she noticed a woman in her yard at around 11:30 in the morning of April 30.
When the elderly woman went to ask the woman what she was doing on her property, the woman told her she worked for the city and was taking measurements for a wall to be installed.
“When you’re friendly, you talk with people, but nowadays, I guess you gotta be stuck up and don’t talk to anybody,” Ronni said.
Officials said a man approached the two as they were talking and introduced himself as another city worker who was spraying trees in her yard.
“She’s telling me how the water was receding, and they’re gonna put a new wall,” Ronni said. “I said, ‘The city is gonna put a wall? I haven’t heard anything about it.'”
The elderly woman reached down towards a tree when the man sprayed her hand with a liquid that he said was poisonous.
“He had a bottle, a gray bottle, and it had clear water in it. It looked like water,” Ronni said. “I said, ‘Oh, what have you got there?’ He said, ‘Oh, it’s all poison I gotta spray this tree.’ Ch, ch, ch, ch. ‘Gotta spray this tree. And see that big knob? You can’t have that.’ I said, ‘Oh, you mean that?’ ‘Oh, don’t touch it. Don’t touch it. You touched it. Now you got poison all over your fingers.'”
The duo then told the victim to wash her hands immediately; the man even offered to help.
Once the man and the victim were by her kitchen sink, the man told her to remove her rings. After she hesitated, he began forcing the rings from her fingers, one of which was her wedding ring.
“He says, ‘Take those rings off and put it in here because it’s poisoned,'” Ronni recalled.
According to authorities, the victim was screaming in pain while the man continued to pull the rings off of her while his female accomplice searched the house for more jewelry.
“He pulled it,” Ronni said. “I remember I was standing right here. Pulled it right off, and I screamed, and he says, ‘There I got it. I threw it in there.'”
The two made their way out of the home with both of the victim’s rings along with a pair of gold earrings and a pair of diamond earrings.
“The rings were gone, so then I ran out [through the front door], but they were already gone,” Ronni said. “I ran back out [through the back door], and they were gone there, so I called the police.”
Later, she realized the necklace she wore in a family picture was missing from a bedroom drawer.
Ronni said she’s always been happy at her home along with Sammy the cat but is angry her home, her private space, has been invaded.
“Last night, I couldn’t sleep,” Ronni said. “I was up for three hours laying in bed. I couldn’t think, and I’m thinking about all this guy — if I could, I’d kill him.”
Deputies describe the male subject to be approximately 50 years of age, standing 5 feet 9 inches tall with gray hair, scruffy gray beard and weighs around 180 pounds.
The woman is described to be around the same age, standing 5 feet 6 inches tall with brown curly hair.
If you have any information on this theft, call Broward County Crime Stoppers at 954-493-TIPS. Remember, you can always remain anonymous, and you may be eligible for a $3,000 reward.
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