Published: April 30, 2008 04:09 pm      

Don’t be scammed by man going to see ill mom

From Staff Reports

If a man knocks on your door and asks for money to go see his ill mother, don’t even bother answering the door. Just call the police.

That’s the advice of New Summerfield police officer Paul Hammack.

Hammack said he has received about a dozen phone calls about Joseph McGehee, a white man in his 40s, who allegedly has been knocking on New Summerfield doors and asking for money to help him go visit his sick mother in Houston or Shreveport, La. McGehee drives a silver 2001 Toyota Corolla with license plate No. M57SMC.

“He’s taking little old ladies for all he can get,” Hammack said. “He sort of nasty looking; he’s not someone I’d open the door for.”

According to Hammack, McGehee has been working this scam in parts of southern Smith County and northern Cherokee County.

If you spot McGehee, call the New Summerfield Police Department at 903-726-3651 or the Cherokee County Sheriff’s Department at 903-683-2271 or the emergency number, 9-1-1.