Crime & Safety

Suspect Arrested in Cookie Sale Ruse

Police say man claimed to represent cheerleading, football teams and asked for cash donations.

Elk Grove police arrested a man over the weekend who they say duped residents into giving him cash by pretending to be selling cookies to benefit local childrens' sports organizations.

Sacramento resident Kevin Cole, 55, was taken into custody Sunday afternoon while he and his eight-year-old daughter were going door to door in a neighborhood near the intersection of Waterman Road and Elk Grove Blvd, police said.

The arrest followed months of rumors that a man and his daughter were targeting homeowners in Elk Grove, promising to deliver cookies from local store in exchange for cash donations. When residents turned over money, according to the reports, the cookies never showed up.

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"We had customers calling us and asking us [about it] after they had given this person money," said Jill Lewis, an employee at The Cookie Jar.

The man's pitch varied, Lewis said, at times mentioning cheerleading, at others football. In one variation, he said the girl needed the funds to attend cheerleading camp, Lewis said.

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"One customer asked the little girl to show him a cheer, and she looked at her dad like, 'I don't know what a cheer is,' " Lewis said. "That customer hightailed it down here and said, 'What is going on?' "

Several commenters on the discussion forum Elk Grove Online said they were deceived into giving money to a man fitting Cole's description.

"They were so nice, the story sounded legit, and he drove a nice Suburban so I thought it must not be a scam," one user wrote.

Elk Grove Police spokesperson Christopher Trim said that based on online comments, he estimated dozens of people had fallen victim to the scam.

On Sunday, police received a tip from a resident whose door Cole had knocked on and who happened to have seen the online reports.

When police arrived, they arrested Cole, who was on probation, on suspicion of petty theft and contributing to the delinquency of a minor. His daughter was turned over to relatives in Sacramento, police said.


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