Robbers Play Cops, Target Illegal Immigrants

March 4, 2008— -- First comes a knock on the door.

Two men in street clothes identify themselves as cops. They carry badges, at least one shows a gun, and they say they are looking for drugs, illegal immigrants or donations to the patrolmens' association. They are invited in and the robbery begins.

The Chelsea, Mass., police Monday released sketches of two men wanted in connection with about a dozen robberies over the past several months in which the assailants identified themselves as cops.

Authorities believe the con men are responsible for burglaries in Chelsea, East Boston and Everett, all neighborhoods and towns with large clusters of Hispanic residents — some of them undocumented — on the north side of the city. Authorities suspect the pair pulled off five robberies in Boston, six in Chelsea and two in Everett.

The latest incident occurred Sunday night in Chelsea. In that incident, the victims told police that they answered the door and allowed two men who they believed were undercover cops into their apartment. Once inside, the pair stole money and jewelry, then took off in a white Volkswagen with livery plates.

"The common thread with the victims is a lot of them are of Central American descent," said Brian A. Kyes, Chelsea's police chief. Kyes said that many of the victims may be in the country illegally, but his officers do not ask crime victims to provide citizenship documentation. Enforcing immigration law, he said, is the responsibility of Homeland Security's Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency.

"If someone's a victim of a crime, as far as their particular immigrant status, it is of no concern to us whatsoever," he said.

Kyes, who fears many more robberies have gone unreported by skittish victims, said that authorities met with 15 leaders of the area's Hispanic community Tuesday to talk about ways to educate the public about policing.