Couple lose pain killers in roof scam

COEUR d'ALENE - Two men conned their way into the trailer home of a senior couple and allegedly stole some prescription painkillers, police said Wednesday.

The couple told police they were at home on the morning of May 13, on the 500 block of W. Lake City Lane, when a couple of men showed up at the door claiming to be from a roofing company.

"They were dressed very neat," Barbara Satterwhite, 69, told The Press. "They weren't scuzzy or anything. They were very polite."

The men said they represented a company which had done some work on the roof and claimed to be "checking seams" and asked to come in.

The men went through the house, sprayed something on the ceiling in spots and even opened some cupboards and closets.

They went so far as to get a ladder out and cut limbs from a tree that were dangling on the roof.

While inside the trailer, the men allegedly stole some hydrocodone. The husband, Bennie Satterwhite, 78, and Barbara, were inside at the time.

"At one point (the wife) saw the older male pick up one of her medication bottles from a bin on the kitchen counter," according to a police report released Wednesday. "He appeared to read the label and then place the bottle back in the bin."

Barbara Satterwhite noticed a half-full bottle of pills that she had placed on her husband's TV tray in the living room was now missing.

At that point, she asked her husband where the bottle of pills had gone.

"One of the males suggested perhaps it had fallen off the tray," the report said. At this point the men exited the house.

"They got in their truck, leaving their ladder behind, and quickly left the property," the report said.

Barbara Satterwhite told police the men had been at the house for approximately an hour.

"They're preying on the elderly is what they're doing," she said. "I was just too gullible."

After this incident she checked with the roofing company that did the original work on the roof in 2010. She was told they don't do unsolicited service calls.

"We encourage our citizens to be very vigilant when it comes to their safety and never let strangers inside their residence," said Coeur d'Alene police Sgt. Christie Wood. "Always ask for credentials. When in doubt, or fear of the strangers, call the police department."