West Allis police are warning residents to beware of impersonators after a man allegedly pretended to be a firefighter and broke into someone’s home.
Rachel Jocham says she had an unexpected visitor last Thursday who told her he needed to inspect her fireplace.
"He came in the back door area because our front door, we always keep locked," she said.
When Jocham heard this door open last Thursday morning she didn't think much of it.
"All of a sudden I hear, ‘Hello, Hello,’ and he had a deeper voice so it sounded like my husband," she said.
"I said ‘hello,’ and all of a sudden I hear ‘Oh, oh I'm with the West Allis Fire Department, I'm here to do a fireplace inspection’," she said.
Jocham said she was immediately skeptical.
"I'm like, how did you get in?" she questioned.
Her house on West Lincoln Avenue doesn't even have a fireplace.
"I said you're not here to check a fireplace and you need to leave and I'm yelling from my bedroom because I'm still dressed for bed," she said.
Jocham was home alone with her 4-year-old son at the time. Jocham said she didn't see the intruder because she stayed in her bedroom the whole time.
"All of a sudden I hear, ‘OK, bye,’" Jocham said.
When Jocham came out to close the door, she caught him driving off in a red truck. She called police to file a report.
"They said, ‘bad news, that wasn't a firefighter’," she said.
The West Allis Fire Department said they do not inspect single family homes. If firefighters are on the job in public, they are always in uniform.
"He probably broke into my house to take stuff," Jocham said.
The West Allis Fire Department said this is the only report of a phony firefighter they've heard of.
If you're approached by someone suspicious, ask for an I.D.
