Scammer's scheme goes up in smoke

The Princeton Police Department (PPD) has identified a suspect who scammed around $800 after entering three Nassau Street businesses and falsely claiming to be a “fire extinguisher inspector.” PPD had shared surveillance photos of the suspect through a Facebook post.

The PPD said in an updated version of the post that charges are pending and that the man would hopefully be in custody soon. They thanked all those who reached out and shared the post to identify the suspect.

The PPD deferred comment on the investigation to its press release and social media posts.

On March 23, the man entered Dunkin’, Small World Coffee, and the Bent Spoon and posed as a worker for “Metro Fire Prevention” — a fictitious company — which was supposedly located at 1485 State Street, Trenton, NJ.

At Dunkin’, the man had tricked a manager into paying him $378 after “servicing” their fire extinguishers. Similarly, at Small World Coffee, the man received $476.70 from the manager for reportedly ensuring the fire extinguishers were up to date.

According to the PPD, the man wrote on sales invoices and used technical language that suggests that he was recently fired from or a current employee of a fire protection company.

In initial reports of the incident, the PPD described him as a white male, bald or crew cut, six feet, two inches tall, of heavy build, and roughly 40 years old.

Other victims of the scam or those with information should contact Det. Sgt. Ben Gering at 609-921-2100 ext. 1840 or Det. Adam Basatemur at 609-921-2100 ext. 2170.