Transient Couple Jailed In Scam

A couple accused of conning elderly Spokane residents since February are in jail.

Kurt Bauer, 41, and Debbie Thomas, 38, were arrested about 8 a.m. Friday at their camp under the Mission Street bridge.

The couple are transients who visit elderly homeowners claiming to need work but really seeking money, Spokane Detective Craig Brenden said.

Usually they offer to wash windows, but then try to befriend the resident. Then they make up “down and out” stories so the senior citizen will give them money, Brenden said.

He received more than two dozen reports from additional victims of the couple Friday, when their pictures ran with a story about the scam in The Spokesman-Review.

They were booked into the Spokane County Jail on three counts each of first-degree residential burglary. They are being held on a cash-only bail of $25,000 each.

More charges likely will follow, Brenden said.

The couple’s 15-year-old son, who police said often participates with his parents in the scams, also was charged with three counts of burglary.

, DataTimes