Police in Princeton, B.C., are warning the public to be wary following a report of someone impersonating a public health official.
The reported incident, according to police, involved an elderly woman who had had a prior medical incident and a man who allegedly posed as an employee from Interior Health.
Police say the woman wasn’t scammed but added that the reported incident could have been a targeted attempt. Police say they contacted Interior Health and Princeton community services, and it appears the individual was not one of their employees.
“Both those entities denied that it was any of their employees,” Sgt. Rob Hughes said in an interview with Global News.
“We really don’t have a crime, other than an incredibly weird and suspicious occurrence.”
Police say the female victim, born in 1937, had had a prior medical incident before being called by the man, who reportedly identified himself as being with Interior Health and said he needed to evaluate her driving.
Hughes said the man showed up on March 26 at approximately 1:30 p.m., and after buzzing her apartment number, he reportedly waited at the front door of the woman’s suite but did not enter the residence.
The individual is described as a six-foot-tall man between 30 and 40 years old who had an average build and was wearing a grey suit. Hughes says the man showed up with a surgical mask, gloves and hand sanitizer. He also reportedly produced an Interior Health identification card.
Police say the man asked to be driven away and then back to her apartment, proving that she could get back home on her own.
Hughes says they drove to the outskirts of town and back, with the man then reportedly asking her to parallel park. After getting out of the vehicle, police say he left, saying his car was just around the corner.
Police say the two separated, and the woman never saw the man again.
Hughes says that tif you receive an unknown call and it’s suspicious, immediately dial *57 after the call to trace it.
Police say it’s possible the man could have been luring the woman away from her apartment so someone else could enter it but added that there were no signs of entry and nothing was taken from the suite.
Hughes called it “a very, very weird situation.”
He added that getting this story out to the public is important because “if Interior Health calls from a blocked number, that should be the first flag. Interior Health shouldn’t be calling from an unidentified or blocked number. If someone calls and identifies as that, you hit *57 as soon as you hang up and call the police.”
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