Police Blotter| Elderly exploitation

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Elderly exploitation

Police arrested Ollie Eddington on suspicion of committing wrongs to at-risk adults and theft on July 7. Eddington allegedly invited himself into the backyard of a 93-year-old female on June 11 and tried to convince her he was there to repair her roof, police said. When she did not believe him, he reportedly told her he could trim her tree. She agreed to allow him to trim the identified trees and after trimming four to six small branches, he told her she owed him $2,400, according to the police report. She told him that was an outrageous price, the report said, and he allegedly offered to reduce the price, so she wrote him a check for $2,200 because she said she felt scared.

On July 8, an 86-year-old man living in unincorporated Boulder County told police he was also a victim of Eddington. According to the report, Eddington knocked on the man’s door and offered to clean his gutters for $45, then told the victim he had to have his tree trimmed. After cutting a few low branches on the tree, Eddington told the man he owed him $1,045, police said. The man said he wrote a check for the full amount, and that Eddington was on his property for about one hour while he cleaned the gutters, trimmed the trees and cleaned up the debris.

Police said Eddington is on probation in Georgia for exploitation of the elderly. Part of his conditions of probation in Georgia is that he is banned from the state of Georgia except for Echols County and that Eddington does not do any work or invoices for anyone over the age of 70, according to the report. The Longmont Police Department and the Boulder County Sheriff ’s Office say further investigation has revealed several more complaints against Eddington throughout the area, including in Englewood, Denver and Loveland, the report said.

Anyone with information on other work done by Eddington or his business, “Tree Guys,” should contact Det. Stephen Desmond of the Longmont police at 303-774- 4590, Det. Ali Thompson of the Boulder County Sheriff ’s Office at 303-441-3643, or Det. Randy Wilber of the Boulder County Sheriff ’s Office at 303-441-3673.

Catalytic cons

More than 100 cases of catalytic converter theft have occurred throughout the greater Denver metropolitan area since January, according to the Colorado Information Analysis Center (CIAC). In fewer than 60 seconds, a two-person team can remove a catalytic converter from a targeted vehicle using an electric saw. A catalytic converter is a device used to reduce the toxicity of emissions from an internal combustion engine.

Late-model Toyota Tacomas and Toyota 4-Runners are the primary targeted vehicles for catalytic converter theft. Compared to other cars, such vehicles sit higher off the ground and have catalytic converters that are more easily accessible to thieves.

The majority of catalytic converter thefts have occurred in public parking lots, such as grocery stores, RTD Park-n-Ride stations and employee parking lots. Preventative or protective measures do exist: Cages or other fixtures can be installed around the catalytic converter to prevent removal. Traceable identifiers are also available to mark the converters.

Anyone who has information pertaining to this crime, or has been a victim of this crime, is urged to report the theft to local law enforcement agencies first and then to contact the CIAC at 1-877-509- 2422 or via email at ciac@ciac.co.gov.

Overdue hiker

Authorities received a report of a possible lost hiker in the area of 500 Taylor Rd. in the early evening of July 11. A Lyons woman had gone hiking at about 10:30 a.m. and was expected to return about three hours later.

Members of various local rescue teams and the Boulder County Sheriff ’s Office responded to search for the woman. They began their search at 7:30 p.m., and rescue team members located her around 9:30 p.m., thanks to the air horn she was using. She had become disoriented and had decided to wait until daylight to find her way home. She was uninjured.

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