Washington Twp. Senior Scammed Out Of $9K By NYC Man: Cops

WASHINGTON TOWNSHIP, NJ – A 29-year-old man from the Bronx faces charges after police say he stole $9,000 from a senior citizen using a scam involving a phony car accident.

Frederick De La Cruz was arrested Monday following an investigation by township detectives and charged with one count of theft by deception, Lt. John Calamari said.

The 82-year-old victim contacted police earlier that day to report he’d received “several phone calls from an unknown person who stated his grandson was in a car accident with a pregnant woman and needed cash for medical treatment,” Calamari said.

De La Cruz later arrived with a woman at the man’s home, where he was given $9,000 cash, Calamari said. Soon after, the senior citizen learned his grandson was not involved in a car crash, the lieutenant said.

Earlier this year, News 12 reported that De La Cruz, an admitted member of the New York-based Trinitarios street gang, was charged with felony in connection with a November 2018 robbery and assault of an 18-year-old man at a Times Square subway station.

The television station reported that De La Cruz surrendered to authorities because he “knew it wouldn’t look good if he didn’t turn himself in” and he wanted to “turn his life around in 2019.”