Fake mechanic dupes 88-year-old Valley woman Gwendolyn Sapp

GLENDALE, AZ - Glendale police are looking for the man who scammed an 88-year-old Valley woman out of thousands of dollars.

At the Walmart near 59th Avenue and Bell Road, investigators say a man followed Gwendolyn Sapp to her handicapped parking space. He told her the front axle of her car was falling off, and gave her a phony auto shop repair business card to convince her he was a legitimate mechanic.

"He said if it fell off, it would maybe cause a bad accident," Sapp said.

In reality, nothing was wrong with Sapp’s car. Lying to her, the unknown man said he could fix her car troubles for $3,000. The two drove to a nearby bank where Sapp withdrew the money.

Sapp told ABC15, after she handed the man the money, he drove away in another vehicle. He never performed any sort of maintenance on her supposedly damaged car.

"It made me feel like an idiot. I'm supposed to be an intelligent woman," Sapp said.

"We sit back and wonder why anyone would deceive a sweet old person,” Glendale Police Officer Tracey Breeden said. “The main reason the elderly are targeted is that they come from a generation that's very polite and trusting."

“He told me, 'I'm gonna save you a lot of money,'" Sapp said repeating what the con artist told her. “Yeah. One word after the other was just a lie," she said.

Glendale police said they see a rise in scam crimes around the holidays.

If you recognize the man in the video, police ask that you do them and Sapp a favor by helping get the man arrested and thrown in jail.

If you have any information, you can reach the Glendale Police Department at 623-930-3000