SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (KY3) – Springfield Police are warning people about a “potential scam”.
Officers contacted several people in traffic vests at a busy intersection in Springfield, asking for donations for a teenager’s funeral. Springfield Police say it violates city regulations. Police say traffickers even walk into traffic to get money wearing brightly colored vests. Police say they are seeing this in other nearby cities as well.
Connie Pugh, a driver who witnessed the incident, said: “These people are more aggressive and make up everything and your face. “They asked for a funeral for a 15-year-old.”
The officers received a call about the group. Pugh said she knew they weren’t from the area because handling like this violates city ordinance. A similar group was discovered in Buffalo, Missouri. The plaque has another name for the teenager’s funeral.
Buffalo police also issued a warning about this group.
“There was a picture of this woman, and she looked like the woman I had seen at Sunshine and West Bypass,” Pugh said. “When you come across people going through an intersection that’s really blocking traffic, you know it’s very dangerous for everyone.”
Drivers have spotted similar people along Glenstone and Sunshine. And the SPD also shows intersections along Kearney.
“It is a violation of our city ordinance, and for whatever reason they give. It may not have been a legitimate purpose,” said Lieutenant Steve Schwind, Springfield Police. “It is not only a violation for a pedestrian to approach the vehicle to ask for money and take any form from the roadway, but it is against the law for a motorbike operator to stop and give money to a pedestrian.”
Pugh says processing in Springfield is getting out of hand and hopes the city begins to address the issue.
“If it’s a scam they did over the weekend, I hope these people get caught,” Pugh said.
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