Beware of John: Scammer in our midst

I learned today of an unfortunate circumstance going on in CV that I wanted to share with y’all. I found out there is a guy named John walking around the village who promotes himself as a handyman. John is tall and slim; he's a very Irish looking guy who speaks with a heavy Bostonian accent. I learned that John sits at bus stops seeking handyman work. The punch line to his handyman story is he receives deposit money from folks and never performs the promised work. How do I know this? Recently I saw a PBSO near John’s residence.

By the way, in case you’re wondering, John currently lives in his blue Cadillac. A grey tarp hangs over the broken driver’s side window, and there is no tag on the vehicle. For the uninitiated, it’s parked on the north side of the Canterbury A building.

Back to the story – standing close enough to overhear the details, I learned that John had stolen $60 from a lady living in Dorchester named Marilyn. She had called PBSO to report the crime. PBSO did not arrest him or even deal with him. Rather, I overheard PBSO advise Marilyn to pursue a civil action in court, reference a contract dispute. Meantime, John continues preying on us.

John’s story doesn’t stop there. In speaking with a friend living across the street from where John’s car is parked I learned that John has actually been living in that parking space for several months now. Folks like my friend say they can’t figure out how this circumstance can happen in our community, and why it can't be stopped? I heard at the pool today from someone very close to CV Security that even though the security team is very aware of John and this situation, CV security claims to be helpless, citing to Canterbury A's residents it’s an association problem. The Canterbury A Association would like him gone too but they are also running into road blocks because John’s guest pass is issued by a resident of another association; however, although he is not living with or being supervised by that resident, they have not revoked his guest pass so he's free to live inside his car, in that parking space on the north side of Canterbury A.

The bureaucracy we all love to keep us safe also seems to fail us when there is a unique internal problem like John’s situation. As it stands at this moment no one is able to completely wrap around this circumstance to bring it to an end: not PBSO, not UCO, not CV Security, not the Canterbury A Association. Supposedly each entity is bound by some prohibitive bureaucracy or rule.

It's been a really great season so the intent of this note is not to complain. Rather, to the contrary, while the details of John’s eviction are worked out by all concerned parties, I wanted to warn y'all to beware of John.

Best regards,
Lenny Cohen