Seymour police are investigating suspicious phone calls made to several Seymour residents from the same phone number Tuesday.
The calls came from (203) 470‑4545 — a number that when called is listed as “disconnected or no longer in service.”
Some people who received calls from the number reported to police that there was “dead air” on the line, according to Seymour Police Lt. Paul Satkowski.
But at least one resident spoke to the caller.
Barbara Fredericks said she received a phone call at about 10 a.m. Tuesday.
A young sounding man on the line said he worked for a chimney company that had cleaned her chimney before. He was in the neighborhood, and wanted to know if Fredericks wanted to schedule another cleaning.
Fredericks declined, hung up and forgot about the call.
That is, until she went on Facebook Tuesday afternoon and saw a couple other friends talking about suspicious phone calls they received.
“I went to the caller ID and realized it was the same number as the people on Facebook,” Fredericks said.
Fredericks called police immediately.
They came to her home, interviewed her and tried calling the same phone number. Police got the same recording — that the phone number was out of service or disconnected.
Fredericks said she knows four other people — including neighbors — who received similar calls.
Satkowski said a quick glance at the department’s log book shows at least three reports were made to police on Tuesday — in different parts of town.
After Fredericks posted a warning message on the Valley Indy Facebook page Tuesday afternoon, the police department received more than 15 more calls, according to Sgt. Dave Parratt.
“We’re advising residents not to respond or give them personal information,” Parratt said. “We are documenting it, and the detective bureau will be following up more tomorrow.”
Burglaries
In the wake of several daytime home burglaries in town, the phone calls struck some as suspicious.
Satkowski said it’s too early to know if the calls are related to the burglaries. But he encouraged anyone with concerns to call police.
“If they feel uncomfortable and deem it suspicious, that’s the kind of thing we want to know,” Satkowski said.
In the past three weeks, more than 10 homes have been burglarized in town during day-time break-ins.
Satkowski said there haven’t been any more burglaries this week, after the department sent out a statement warning residents to be on guard.
Fredericks said she’s shaken up by the experience.
“I’m sitting in my house now with the house all locked up. I’m freaked out,” Fredericks said.
