Police Warn of Scam: That’s Not the Water Department Knocking

Royal Oak police are warning residents to be suspicious of people posing as Water Department employees and asking for entrance into their homes to check the water meter.

Police took two such reports Tuesday, according to a news release.

About 2:30 p.m., two men approached a home in the 1100 block of Cherokee and told the homeowner they needed to check the water meter. Before he could respond, the suspects entered the home. One went upstairs, the other to the basement, and then they left the house abruptly, leaving in a newer, back SUV or minivan, police said in a news release.

When the homeowner checked, an undisclosed amount of currency was missing from his bedroom.

The suspects are described as:

• Suspect No 1: White male; about 5-feet, 6 inches tall and heavyset; late 30s; short, straight black hair.
• Suspect No. 2: Black male with a medium complextion; about 6-feet tall and heavyset; mid-30s; wearing a blue T-shirt with an unknown design on the front and blue/gray pants or jeans.

About 5:20 p.m. Tuesday, a homeowner in the 4200 block of Seminole reported a similar crime. The homeowner didn’t open the door and yelled to her son to come downstairs. When he arrived at the door, the suspect left the area and headed in an unknown direction.

The suspect in that incident was described as a white male in his 40s who was wearing a blue plaid shirt.