Con artist scams elderly grandmother

HOUSTON – An elderly woman said she lost what little she had to a con artist.

Freddie Rose, 82, is not living a lush life. She is a widow and shares a small house, which is bordered by railroad tracks and high power lines, with her middle-aged daughter. She suffers from diabetes, high blood pressure and constant back pain.

Rose depends on her Social Security check to get her through each month.

A few days ago, a handsome man showed up at her door on East 36th Street in the Independence Heights area. It turns out he was there to do something very ugly.

"He said, 'We're tree trimmers and we have been assigned to come here and trim all of those trees that are in the back, in that alley,'" Rose said.

Rose said the man told her that his crew would also replace her fence -- for free. After talking for a while, the man asked Rose if he could park his truck in her driveway.

"He left to go and get his truck and I ain't seen him or the truck yet," Rose said.

When Rose went back into her house, she discovered a bedroom had been ransacked.

"When I passed the door, I saw shoe boxes and things on the floor," Rose said. "I knew immediately what happened."

Several things were stolen, including jewelry that Rose's mother had left her and money she was saving up to buy her grandchildren birthday presents.

"I just don't know why," Rose said.

A neighbor saw the man jump into a waiting truck and drive away. Rose doesn't think she'll ever see him again, but she knows what she would do if he ever is captured.

"Just let me loose for a while to do what I would like to do to him," Rose said. "That's give him something like he has never had – a good, good whoopin'."