Serial Con Man Approaches People On Street, Sells Fake Apple Projects: Palos Heights PD

PALOS HEIGHTS, IL — A landscape worker was taken for several hundred dollars by a serial con man who posed as an Amazon employee, Palos Heights police said.

Antonio Picariello, 44, an Italian national, was charged with felony theft by deception. He is a suspect of similar crimes in Palos Park, Des Plaines, Park Ridge and Elmhurst.

On April 17, the landscape worker told officers that he while he was working at residence in the 11900 block of 68th Avenue, a man, later identified by police as Picariello, approached him and said he worked for Amazon. Picariello was wearing a vest similar to Amazon employees, police said.

Picariello told the landscape worker that he had several Apple products for sale, including an iPhone Pro Max, Apple watch and Air Pods for sale, police. The landscape worker agreed to purchase one of each in the amount of $790.

When he opened the items, the landscape worker realized that the Apple products he purchased were counterfeit. Police said the landscape worker took a picture of Picariello’s ID and vehicle’s license plate. Palos Heights police initiated a critical reach alert to other suburban police departments. It turned out that someone matching Picariello’s description was being investigated for similar crimes in Des Plaines, police said.

Elmhurst police saw Picariello’s vehicle in traffic and initiated a traffic stop. Police said Picariello was driving the same vehicle. He was taken into custody. Investigators were able to interview Picariello, who said Picariello presented a drivers license from Italy.

“The information from the critical reach flier was paramount in locating the suspect,” said Chief Mike Yott, of the Palos Heights Police Department.

Police said they found several large boxes of counterfeit Apple products. The Cook County State’s Attorney approved felony charges on Monday. Picariello was cited and released following a pretrial hearing at the Bridgeview Courthouse.