EVERETT – An Everett widow says she was conned by a slick-talking stranger who posed as a firefighter to get into her home and steal from her.
A day after Myrna Allen’s husband died, an Everett man showed up at her door under the ruse of being a fire inspector, according to Everett District Court documents.
Allen, 66, told police that the man stole about $160 and pain medication she takes to ease the effects of cancer.
“What he did is unspeakable. He hurt this whole family,” the Everett grandmother said.
Police arrested the 22-year-old man last week and booked him into the Snohomish County Jail for investigation of criminal impersonation and residential burglary. He has since been released on bail. No charges have been filed yet.
Scams against the elderly are fairly common, Everett police Sgt. Boyd Bryant said.
“This is about as low as it gets, for a person to victimize someone who is sick and grieving,” Bryant said.
Everett firefighters came to Allen’s home Feb. 16 to help her husband, who had stopped breathing. Paramedics tried to revive him, but he died at the couple’s home.
The next day, the suspect came to the house and reportedly told the family he was a fire inspector, court documents said. He said he needed to take pictures inside the house because a firefighter reported being hurt on the job the previous day, according to a search warrant.
Allen told police the suspect was wearing firefighter-style boots, blue pants and a blue shirt with his name and some sort of insignia on the front.
During his visit, the man asked to see any medications in the house.
Allen’s family and friends called him charming and convincing, saying he was a dead ringer for actor Tom Cruise. Amid their grief, they didn’t doubt his motives.
“It was really a vulnerable time,” said Charlene Sundseth, a friend of the family who met the suspect.
He returned less than a week later as the family was leaving for Richard Allen’s funeral. When Myrna Allen returned home from the service, she noticed that money and more than 100 pain pills were missing.
She never suspected the “nice kid,” Allen said.
The suspect returned two other times and asked to take more pictures.
“He was apologizing the whole time and had an answer for everything,” said Allen’s son Christopher Eckman. “It seemed like he did this before.”
The suspect’s final visit earlier this month sent Allen to the hospital, her family said.
“He had stolen all her medication, and she was in so much pain,” Allen’s daughter Lynn Haas said. “He took advantage of the situation. We trusted him.”
The family wants to know how the Everett man knew that firefighters had been at Allen’s house, which she shares with her son.
They also want to know how someone could prey on them during their grief.
“I’m absolutely certain those drugs came first before anyone. We were nothing to him,” Allen said.
Reporter Diana Hefley: 425-339-3463 or hefley@ heraldnet.com.
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