Hugging bandit arrested

[Monello]

Amazing that people fall for these scams. Often I'm asked for a few bucks when I'm at a convenience store but that's about it for me as far as grifters go.

Growing up I heard about the roving gypsies that came around and scammed home owners. Stationed in Europe, they were always begging in the cities where lots of people gathered, like the train stations. Then they'd drive away in their Mercedes. Seems that was the preferred ride for the beggars.

The moral of the story is to not let any strangers hug you.

A Newburgh, New York man has been arrested in connection with the theft of jewelry from a 71-year-old man in Nutley in which the perpetrators used sleight-of-hand to distract the victim, police said. Using vehicle information from a rental agency, police identified Ovidiu Miclescu, 28, as a suspect.

Nutley police say the victim was walking down Passaic Avenue when a silver Chevy Tahoe with two children and four older people inside pulled up alongside him. A male passenger asked the man if he spoke Spanish and placed gold-colored rings in the victim’s hand as a female wrapped gold chains around the victim’s wrist and neck. She also hugged him.

Shortly after, when the Tahoe had already pulled away south on Passaic Avenue, the man realized the gold bracelet and gold chain he had been wearing were missing, police said. The man’s jewelry had an estimated value of $925. The rings and chains placed on the man have been kept as evidence, police also said.


There have been scattered reports throughout North Jersey of people in an SUV pulling up alongside pedestrians and attempting to give them jewelry in what appears to be an attempt to distract victims.

The same scam has also been seen in other parts of the country, and has been carried out in almost precisely the same manner as the Nutley incident -- right down to the choice of vehicle.

gypsies tramps and thieves