Police say 'gypsy' groups commonly target elderly at shopping malls

BY KATHIE O. WARCO, Staff writer   Washington, Pa.

Jozef Miller had a face-to-face confrontation with North Franklin Township police the day before he was caught after he and his accomplices allegedly tried to rob three elderly residents in Donora.

North Franklin police Chief Mark Kavakich, who also is a lieutenant with Bentleyville Police Department, said his officers received a call Feb. 6 that one of the men suspected of last year's fatal home invasion in Peters Township was at Washington Crown Center.

When Kavakich checked on the report, he came face to face with Miller. He saw Miller again the next day after he was captured by Donora police, who stopped a car matching a description of one used in an attempted home invasion that morning.

Miller, 32, of Brooklyn, N.Y., is suspected of driving two women, Pauline Lakatosz, 32, and Sheila Lakatosz, no age available, to three homes in Donora. The women were scared off at one house and at a second home, they were told to leave by the angry homeowner who was able to provide police with a description of the vehicle. While the two women were at a third home on Mead Street, Miller was nabbed by police.

Miller has been charged by Donora police with a variety of offenses, including conspiracy to commit theft, criminal trespass, giving false information to police and hindering apprehension.

Warrants have been issued for the arrest of his two female accomplices. Miller has refused to give police information about the women other than to say they were "family."

The trio also is suspected of a home invasion in Bentleyville last September. Kavakich said he has received a call from a man identifying himself as the "King of the Gypsies," asking for the Bentleyville charges to be dropped in exchange for restitution.

Miller faces charges of conspiracy to commit burglary, robbery, simple assault, theft and criminal trespass. A preliminary hearing on all his charges is set for Wednesday in Central Court.

Kavakich is concerned that elderly people may have been approached by the group at the North Franklin shopping mall in early February.

"It is typical for them to walk around a mall to target an elderly person," explained Kavakich, who said he has been doing research into "gypsy" groups since the incident in Bentleyville last year. "They might follow the target to their car and to their bank or home."

Kavakich said in talking with police from Philadelphia, New Jersey and New York, he learned victims are approached for conversation.

"The elderly person may think it is an innocent encounter," he said. "But while one talks, the others may be going through the victim's purse."

Miller and the two women checked in to a South Strabane Township motel the evening before Miller was caught, Kavakich said. They also placed several calls to New York.