Local resident Jean Voorhees is warning the public about a young man approaching holiday shoppers with a suspicious hard-luck story. Voorhees said she first came across the man two or three weeks ago in a VanMall neighborhood parking lot. He said he was a college student and that his books, computer and wallet had been stolen from his car, he was out of gas, and he couldn’t reach family or friends.
She gave him some cash, only to spot him a short time later at a Hazel Dell supermarket, where he was giving customers the same story.
Saturday, she saw him approaching shoppers at Westfield Vancouver mall’s parking lot and notified police.
She describes the man as tall, blond and college-age. “I feel the public should be warned about these con men working the parking lots around town,” she wrote.
