Pawtucket Police looking for suspect accused of scamming 85-year-old out of $18,000

Police in Rhode Island are looking for the public’s help to catch a suspect.

According to Pawtucket Police, on July 25, 2023, the Pawtucket Police Department took a report of a confidence scheme where an 85-year-old city resident was scammed out of approximately $18,000 dollars. The victim received a call from an individual identifying himself as an attorney that needed money to bond a relative of the victim out of jail. The scam involved instructions on how to provide the money to a courier that would respond to the victim’s address. The victim, not being able to contact the aforementioned relative, believed the circumstances to be true. The victim managed to obtain the money requested which was turned over to the courier.

A three-month long investigation by Detective Austin Webb which included canvassing the neighborhood for surveillance footage, corresponding and exchanging information with other RI law enforcement agencies for similar incidents, phone records, traffic cam footage to include FLOCK, local businesses camera surveillance, and car rental agreements, led to the identity of the suspect/courier involved.

The Pawtucket Police Department obtained an arrest warrant and is actively trying to locate 27-year-old Derek Harley Lyons, from Moncton New Brunswick, Canada.

Lyons is described as 6’1”, approx. 210lbs, brown hair, blue eyes with an athletic, muscular build.

Anyone with information is asked to contact Detective Austin Webb at 401-727-9100 ext. 761 or at awebb@pawtucketpolice.com