(Wilmington, DE 19803) Yesterday, (Feb 24) patrol officers from the New Castle County Division of Police were dispatched to the 4000 block of Simon Road, in the community of Twin Oaks, for a fraud report. When the officer arrived, he was able to interview the 89-year-old victim.
The officer learned that on February 20th, 2020, the victim received a telephone call from a person advising her that her grandson, (utilized grandson’s correct name), had been in a motor vehicle accident, in which her grandson was at fault. The person stated her grandson had been arrested after being found at fault for an accident and then instructed her to send $1,500 to an address in Connecticut so that her grandson would be released from jail. The elderly victim reported that on the same day she retrieved the funds and mailed it to the address provided to her by the person.
The victim further reported that on Saturday (Feb 22nd) she received another phone call from the same person, and he stated that the driver of the vehicle that was involved in the collision with her grandson had died due to injuries she had suffered during the accident. The person told her that the only way her grandson would be released from prison is if she pays $10,000.00 USC to cover the funeral cost for the victim of the accident.
The victim explained that she retrieved the money and then contacted the person when she returned home so that he would respond to her residence to pick up the money. Then on Saturday (Feb 22) an unknown Hispanic male suspect came to her house to retrieve the money at which time she gave the suspect $8,000.
Then yesterday (Feb 24), the person called her again multiple times, but the victim reported that she did not answer, instead, she called the police.
When the officer finished with the interview of the victim, he had her return a call to the suspect again. The suspect stated that he needed another $10,000 USC for the sake of her grandson. The suspect then said he would send two of his messengers to pick up the money. He also added that they would need to come into the house and count the money to make sure it was $10,000.
Last night (Feb 24), at approximately 8:00 p.m. a dark-colored sedan, with two unknown occupants arrived at the victim’s residence and parked on the street.
At that moment, members from the New Castle County Division of Police Criminal Investigations Unit, Special Investigations Squad converged on the vehicle and apprehended 27-year-old Yefri Peralta of Miami, Florida and 26-year-old Henry Reyes of New York, New York.
Both suspects were transported to New Castle County Division of Police Headquarters and charged with:
One count of felony Attempted Crime Against a Vulnerable Adult, one count of felony Attempted Theft of More Than $1500 and the Victim is 62 or older and one count of felony Conspiracy.
They were both arraigned by Justice of the Peace Court 11 and both Yefri Peralta and Henry Reyes were each held in lieu of $30,000 cash bail.
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