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Engerbert Perez Jimenez, 26, of Reading, called the Lancaster County woman and pretended to be her son’s lawyer claiming her grandson was in a serious car crash and was in the ICU and needed $8,000, according to the release by the Northern Lancaster County Regional police department.
The woman quickly went to the bank and withdrew cash and met the man in Warwick Township and surrendered the cash, but then he called her back and demanded another $7,000 in cash claiming he need bail money for her grandson, the release details.
The woman “began to sense she was perhaps a victim of fraud,” so she contacted her grandson, and it was confirmed he was fine and not in the hospital or in legal troubles, so her grandson called authorities, and an investigation was launched, police say.
The meeting for the second round of money took place as patrol officers and detectives surveilled so they were able to apprehend the Perez Jimenez— recovering the lost $8,000 in cash and preventing the loss of an additional $7,000, the police explain in the release.
Jimenez was charged with two felonies for theft by deception and criminal attempt of theft by deception, police say.
He was transported to the Lancaster County Prison for his preliminary arraignment, according to the release.
A 26-year-old woman from Reading, and an infant, were in Perez Jimenez’s car, but they were released pending further investigation into the incident, police say.
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