Police: Man Cheated Woman out of Nearly $11,000, Need Your Help Finding Him

In early May, Austin police sent out an alert to the public to caution people - especially Austin's elderly - about a man who was reported to be cheating people out of thousands of dollars.

In particular, police said an 82 year old woman hired Douglas Carpenter, a so-called "tree man," to mow the lawn and remove a tree from her back yard.  Because of the victim's age, her power of attorney checked in on her bank account, only to learn her client had written Carpenter several checks from February 25 to April 3, totaling $10,974.

But over the two and a half month period, the woman hired an additional person to cut her grass as originally planned, since Carpenter was not doing the work.  According to police, Carpenter may have threatened his victim, scaring her into borrowing money in order to pay the scam artist.  Police said Carpenter told the woman the checks she had written him were no good, and that she needed to pay the money he said was due to him.

Carpenter has been charged with Theft from Elderly, a 3rd Degree Felony.  But the story doesn't end there.  Detectives believe that there may be other victims around, particularly the elderly.  If you are a victim, police ask that you make a police report by calling 512-974-5750.  If you know the
whereabouts of Carpenter, call 911 or Crime Stoppers at 472-TIPS or text
"Tip 103" + your message to CRIMES.

You may be eligible for a cash reward of up to $1,000 if your tip leads to an arrest or charges being filed.