- Youth looking for their dog
- Two young males looking for a lost golden retriever
- Two youth claimed they lived on Cary Dr.
- Boys looking for their golden retriever named "Max"; said they were new to neighborhood and lived on Bridge; Caucasian, in late teens, one blonde and one light brown hair, both had on knit hats and earthy colored clothing; rang doorbell aggressively and loudly said "hello, hello"
- Boys looking for reddish golden retriever; claimed to be sons of a doctor on Bridge; seemed legit at the time
- Looking for a golden retriever, claimed to be sons of a doctor at ___ Bridge and went to San Diego State
- Two youth looking for lost dog, going to Cal for a year, but from San Diego; claimed to live on Cary; gave names as Ryan and Tyler
- GE home security systems
- offering a free alarm system
- GE home security systems people announcing a Crime Prevention Meeting
- GE selling home security systems
- Two guys mid to late 20’s, one white the other may be Hispanic; close hair cuts – same coats – very polite, selling security systems; but our sign out front states we have a home security system
- Persons selling newspaper subscriptions
- Person was selling newspaper subscriptions to make money for college, carried a binder
- Male African American carrying a silver clipboard, 18 years or so, dark jeans, black sweat jacket with red striping on sleeves; didn’t get to door in time to find out what he was selling or seeking
Often the door-to-door solicitors are polite and can fool even the most wary resident. A resident states: . . . one very important thing to remember is to not be fooled by how innocent, clean cut, polite, professional, etc. these people look. There have been many cases of people being robbed by people wearing business suits in shopping mall parking lots. One common story given was the youth resided in the neighborhood and often gave a street they lived on or stated they were someone’s son that resided in neighborhood. One resident reported the youth said he did chores for people in the neighborhood.
FOLKS, WE BELIEVE THESE STORIES WERE SCAMS.
In response to our inquiry, here is a direct quote from Tony Crivello, owner and president of NorCal Baseball: In no way is this group affiliated with us. We would never send our players door to door. There are a lot of teams out there that claim to be us in order to gain some credibility. Please pass on the info that this is not us. Please let me know if you need anything else. Tony Crivello .
Rob Bruno from NorCal baseball stated their youth are in the 13- to 17-year-old age bracket and are either in school or practice. It sounded like a scam to Rob. There are no San Leandro schools in the NorCal baseball program according to the website www.norcalbaseball.org
A resident contacted the San Leandro high school baseball team and reported: Just spoke to the SL baseball coach and they are at a game right now. He said they are NOT fundraising and NOT going to Hawaii.
Because of the large number of incidents [over fifteen reported in one neighborhood during March 2 to March 8], it leads to the conclusion the youth were dropped off in neighborhoods AND were coached by adults. Whether the intention was to get some "free" money OR to check out neighborhoods for burglary is unknown. However, one report stated the youth wanted to know if any neighbors were home during the day.
Regarding the reports of youth looking for their dog, one resident reported kids came to the door looking for a reddish golden retriever and claimed to be sons of a doctor at ___ Bridge. We contacted the residents of ___ Bridge to confirm the story. Here is the information we received: This is a little frightening - looks like they were checking out the houses. Actually, we moved, downsized. The new owner is not a doctor and has 3 very young boys. I don't believe they have a dog. So you can get the word out to watch for these kids. Probably report any sightings to the police?? With the number of postings, it's a wonder there hasn't been a break-in. I believe one method is to knock on the door and if no answer, one goes back and breaks in while the other stands guard in the front of the house!
Please don’t be fooled by clean cut, polite youth. Unfortunately, too many scams mean we have to be alert. If they continually meet with failure, they will move on to an easier neighborhood, and let’s hope it is not in San Leandro. Let’s get the word out!