Giocomina Arnone, 90, of Coral Springs, Fla., said her trusting heart cost her meaningful pieces of jewelry and other prized possessions after she opened her front door to someone claiming to be a city worker.
Last month, a man knocked on Arnone's door and told her he was sent from City Hall to cut the trees in her backyard. He asked her if she got a card he left by her door last week, but she replied she hadn't.
Although she told him she never received a card from him, Arnone let him in due to what she says is her trusting nature.
"My [late] husband said, 'Don't trust everybody,'" she said. "And that's one thing I did wrong."
Instead of cutting the trees on city business, the man distracted Arnone and led her out of her home as an accomplice went into her bedroom and robbed her, police said.
"I had everything laid out so neat," Arnone said. "It was stupid, but I had everything laid out so neat. Like, he knew where they were."
The duo made out with $1600 worth of jewelry, including diamond earrings, gold necklaces, her late daughter's ring, her late mother's brooche, her cherished rosary and a ring she said touched the hand of a Pope.
U.S. & World
Arnone told police she saw the suspect leave in a black, unmarked pickup truck. Anyone with information is urged to call Broward Crime Stoppers at (954) 493-TIPS.
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