SF Men Tried to Dupe Elderly With a Crayon

Two suspects are being sought for allegedly using a crayon to try to convince an elderly man that he struck a car in San Francisco's Sunset District last week to get money from him, police said.

The incident began last Friday afternoon as the 81-year-old man was pulling his vehicle into the garage of his home in the 1600 block of 16th Avenue.

A male suspect approached and said his wife's car had been struck by the man's vehicle and had to go to an auto shop, according to police.

The man did not believe that he was involved in an accident, but followed the suspect in his car several blocks away to Moraga Street between 20th and 21st avenues where they stopped.

The suspect said the accident happened three blocks from that location, and pointed to the victim's car, which had a red mark that went from the front passenger door to the car's fender, police said.

At that point, a second suspect approached and said that he also saw the crash, according to police.

When the victim said he was going to call the police, the first suspect pulled out some sort of badge and showed it to the man before quickly putting it away, police said.

The suspect then tried to convince the victim to split the cost of the alleged repair by giving him more than $2,000, but the man refused and said he wanted to report the incident to his insurance company.
      
The suspect then threatened to have the man's car impounded and told him that he knew where he lived, according to police.

The two suspects then got into the initial suspect's car and drove away. They have not been found, police said.

When the victim's insurance adjuster examined the red mark on the car, it was discovered to only be the mark of a crayon, according to police.

Anyone with information about the case is encouraged to call the Police Department's anonymous tip line at 415-575-4444 or send a tip by text message to TIP411.