Police Warn Residents to Request ID
by Manuel Roig-Franzia, Washington Post
Utility officials are warning customers to take precautions after two home invasions within a week involving armed men posing as utility workers in suburban Washington.
In both cases, men knocked on the door of a home and identified themselves as utility workers, then robbed occupants at gunpoint, police said yesterday.
Investigators do not know if the incidents are connected, but the crimes prompted words of caution from police and utility officials.
“We ask our customers to ask to see identification before letting anyone into their homes,” said Robert Dobkin, a spokesman for Potomac Electric Power Co. He said all Pepco employees are instructed to carry photo identification.
Two Southeast Washington men were arrested Wednesday night after the most recent incident, which took place in the 5400 block of Frazier Terrace in Temple Hills, said Cpl. Tammy Sparkman, a spokeswoman for Prince George’s County police. She said Duane Cunningham, 30, of the 4600 block of Hillside Road and Daryle Eric Morgan, 30, of the 700 block of Park Road were each charged with two counts of first-degree assault, two counts of use of a handgun to commit felony and two counts of assault with the intent to rob.
Officers are searching for a third suspect, she said.
The three men were let into the home after allegedly saying that they were employed by Pepco, Sparkman said. They were wearing blue coveralls and orange reflector vests, she said. The men stole an undisclosed amount of money and other items while pointing guns at the couple who live there, Sparkman said.
However, the robbers apparently did not know that the couple’s teenage child was in a back bedroom at the time, Sparkman said. The teenager called 911 and officers arrested the two suspects a few blocks away, Sparkman said.
On April 3, a similar crime took place in Takoma Park, authorities said.
Two men knocked on the door of a home in the 7400 block of Birch Avenue and said they were from a utility company, Takoma Park police spokesman Carol Bannerman said. Bannerman would not name the utility company mentioned by the suspects.
The men brandished handguns, Bannerman said, and tied up the occupants -- an elderly woman and her adult son. One of the suspects wore a blue jean jacket with a white emblem on it, while the other wore baggy blue jeans, Bannerman said.
One of the suspects fired his weapon during the robbery, but no one was injured, she said. After the suspects left, the woman’s son freed himself and called police, Bannerman said.
No arrests have been made, Bannerman said. Takoma Park police detectives are comparing notes with Prince George’s police, she said.
Dobkin said he wasn’t aware of other home invasions. But, he said, there have been cases of con artists claiming to be Pepco employees and collecting money from unwitting victims.