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On Wednesday, Aug. 3, Connecticut State Police announced the arrest of Jose Perezclark, a 39-year-old man from the Bronx, on charges of grand larceny, months after his alleged scam.
The incident occurred on the morning of Jan. 18, 2023.
An elderly couple in Preston received multiple phone calls that morning from people who claimed to be named “Sarah” and “Bill,” saying they were from the Bridgeport Superior Court and a public defender’s office, respectively.
“Sarah” told the couple that their daughter was in custody following an accident with a pregnant woman, and that the couple needed to provide $12,500 cash.
“Bill” confirmed this, and agreed to send a courier to the couple’s house to pick up the money for the release of their daughter.
They complied, taking the money out of their safe in $100 bills, packaging it in a cardboard box that they wrote their daughter’s name on.
A man driving a Toyota Camry came to the house and picked up the package. During the transaction, one of the parents took a picture of the car’s license plate.
The couple realized they’d been scammed when their daughter, who they believed to be in custody, walked into their home shortly after the call.
Police arrived at their Preston home and were investigating when the scammers called again.
This time, they told the couple that the pregnant woman had miscarried and would settle for an additional $20,000. At the detective’s encouragement, the couple agreed, packaged up an empty box, and provided it to the driver of a black Kia that arrived at their home.
Upon questioning, it was uncovered that the driver was truly just a driver, and had been hired by the supposed scammer through Uber to pick up a package.
The Uber driver agreed to a plan to help catch the suspect and drove to the requested location of Atlas Gas Mart, located at 1726 Fairfield Ave, in Bridgeport, where they found Perezclark.
To piece together the puzzle, police used the couple’s picture of the transaction to contact the owner of the Toyota Camry, who confirmed they were also an Uber driver hired to transport a package and that they noted down the alleged scammer’s car information because it was suspicious.
The suspect’s car belonged to none other than Perezclark.
After months, police were able to put out a warrant for Perezclark’s arrest.
He is charged with grand larceny and telephone fraud.
Perezclark was released from custody after posting his $100,000 cash/surety bond and is due to appear in court on Wednesday, Aug. 16 at GA-10 in New London.
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