August 5, 2022 – Hartford, WI – East Side Lumber employee Richard Lemke contacted the Hartford Police Department to report a suspicious package for UPS that he took in at East Side Lumber.
He said an elderly subject came into the store to send the package to an address in Baltimore, MD. Lemke observed the subject with a large quantity of money before he gave him the box and envelope.
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The subject left the package and returned home. Lemke was concerned the subject may be getting scammed out of money.
Officer Robert St. Onge contacted the elderly subject who told Officer St. Onge he had placed $10,000 in the box he was sending to Baltimore. The subject stated he received a phone call telling him he won $3.5 million but to receive the money he had to send them money.
Officer St. Onge then learned the subject sent $5,000 to the same address in Baltimore the day before via USPS. The victim and his daughter returned to East Side to retrieve the UPS package, and Officer St. Onge responded to the Post Office.
After speaking with staff at the Post Office, Officer St. Onge was able to place a stop on the package mailed the previous day containing $5,000 and have it returned to the elderly victim.
Richard Lemke’s awareness and observations saved the victim in case from being scammed out of $15,000.
