Two charged after scamming 77-year-old out of $40,000
Detectives say two tenants persuaded a 77-year-old man with early-onset dementia to withdraw cash repeatedly; bank records show $40,000 taken over nearly a year and their eviction revealed a vandalized apartment.
Westmoreland County detectives charged Emma Harbaugh Walker, 32, and Jordan Johnson, 35, after a caretaker reported the pair scammed a 77-year-old man with early-onset dementia out of $40,000 in bank withdrawals from April 2025 to March 2026. The suspects allegedly pressured the victim for cash for child support or to avoid arrest, lived in the victim’s rental without paying rent for years, and were evicted in April 2026; the apartment was found vandalized. They face charges of financial exploitation of an older adult, criminal mischief and conspiracy.