Locksmith impersonators popping up in San Antonio

by Amanda Stanzilis / KENS 5

kens5.com

Posted on April 14, 2010 at 9:13 PM

Updated Thursday, Apr 15 at 6:43 AM

On Wednesday afternoon, an employee at the Centerview business center near 410 and Babcock saw someone who seemed suspicious trying to pop the lock of a car. The employee confronted the man who claimed he was a Pop A Lock Locksmith employee. The locksmith impersonator also tried to name the man who owned the car.

But that's where his plan failed. The business worker knew the owner of the vehicle.

The impersonator made a pretend phone call and then claimed he had the wrong car. Later, he was spotted trying to break into another vehicle. But this time, when he was confronted, he took off running.

The business center employee who reported the impersonator said, "My big concern is that people don't think anything about it. If you see a guy wearing a Pop a Lock shirt standing near a car, you're not going to stop and say, 'hey do you actually work for Pop a Lock?'"

KENS 5 contacted Pop a Lock Locksmith Company who said they had been made aware of the impersonator. We're told all actual Pop a Lock employees wear bright orange shirts with the company logo on it. They also drive cars with either decals on the side or magnets that name the company. All employees also have badges and a large tool set.

But the key factor to look for is that an actual Pop a Lock employee will not open the car without the owner of the car standing there.

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