CAPTURED: Magazine salesman charged with stealing Puyallup grandmother's billfold



PUYALLUP - The door to door salesman accused of stealing a Puyallup grandmother's wallet in March of 2016 was finally arrested in January.  Joshua Medaris was identified and charged with Residential Burglary, Theft in the Second Degree and two counts of Identity Theft in the Second Degree thanks to Washington's Most Wanted viewer tips to Crime Stoppers of TacomaPierce County.  Turns out he was working for a legitimate company selling door to door magazine subscriptions when police say he stole the victim's wallet and ran off.  Medaris is scheduled for a plea hearing on the charges on March 1st. Medaris is WMW Capture #779.

PUYALLUP, Wash. -- Jean Roberts says she felt sorry for a young man who rang her Puyallup doorbell and told her he was selling magazines to win a trip to London.

"He was fumbling over his words and said, 'My grandma lives here' so I thought it was legit,” she said.  She told him her money goes to pay her medical bills but she's from England and he reminded her of her grandchildren.

“I thought "OK,  I`ll give him $25. So I did,” said Roberts. 



He asked her for a glass of water and a pen to fill out her receipt.  When she turned to put the pen away, he took off with her wallet.

“I saw my billfold in his hand going out the door and I yelled, "Hey! And so I ran after him. I ran down the driveway and I ran down to the end of the road and I had my slippers on,” said Roberts.

Puyallup Police say the suspect used her debit cards at Walmart and Chevron.

"He could be and is a danger to the community if he’s preying on elderly people,” said Det. Don Bourbon who is trying to identify the suspect.  “It shows some desperation there. So we as a department and a community would like to find this individual and question him and get him off the streets.” 



The suspect was seen on video driving a dark-colored SUV that could be a Mercedes or Kia.

Roberts has one message for him.  “Do you have a grandmother? Would you steal from your grandmother?” she asked.

Crime Stoppers of Tacoma-Pierce County is offering up to a $1,000 reward for information leading to his arrest.  If you know his name, call the hot line anonymously at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477) or go to www.tpcrimestoppers.com to submit the information.