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SALT LAKE CITY -- A wheelchair-bound man who had agreed to help a panhandler ended up losing all of his cash.
Salt Lake City police Detective Dennis McGowan says the victim was at his home in a retirement community at 3080 S. Richmond St. Sunday afternoon when the suspect knocked on the screen door.
"He told him first of all that he'd run out of gas, and he just was asking if the elderly gentleman could spare a few dollars," McGowan said. When the victim reached into his wallet to separate out a couple of dollars, the suspect grabbed the rest of the cash and ran.
"Here he is with the good nature and the generosity to help this man out, and then to become victimized by this person instead is really a tragedy," McGowan said.
The suspect is described only as a man in his 20s, about 6 feet tall with blond hair and a stud earring in one ear.
Police say when they got to the scene, they learned the suspect had approached another man who refused to give him cash. They also found that an upstairs apartment had been burglarized. Police say the cases may be related.
E-mail: mgiauque@ksl.com
