It was a tag-team operation. Felipa Guerrero says the male thief walked through her back door and ransacked her house. But she never noticed him go in. For 30 minutes she had been distracted by his accomplice, a young woman, very businesslike who directed her to the far corner of her back yard. She spoke urgently about repairing her fence. What about the cost?, the senior citizen asked.
"She said 'OK,'" said Felipa Guerrero. A free job, she was told.
When the woman left, Guerrero found her home in shambles, with thousands of dollars gone.
"She was going to have her roof done, now she doesn't have the money for getting her windows done, and now she doesn't have the money," said Guerrero's neighbor, Rene Moncado. "And her husband actually is in the hospital in really critical condition."
"Lots of cash and jewelry is what they're targeting," said West Covina Police Corporal Rudy Lopez. "One woman lost over $15,000 -- her life savings was in that home."
West Covina Police are looking for two suspects.
/*Eric Bimbo*/ is 20 years old. "[Bimbo] has been convicted of some drug-related offenses," said Cpl. Lopez. "That's how he ended up in the system, but the cons that he's working -- they've associated him with a ring of people that are doing exactly this."
His girlfriend is /*Amy Adams*/. They might appear like a normal family. "They have two children together and they have been seen with the children actually doing these crimes," said Cpl. Lopez.
The duo has hit at least six homes: all vulnerable senior citizens.
"She has saved a little bit of money all these years to fix up her house, and all of the sudden somebody comes over and takes it away from her. That is bad, really terrible," said Moncado.
If you have seen this couple, you are urged to contact West Covina Police at (626) 939-8500.
Investigators warn the pair may be operating scams anyplace in the San Fernando Valley. They also strongly suspect that they've conducted other scams on other people that have not been reported.
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