East Wenatchee Police Warn Residents of Two Familiar Crimes on the Rise

The East Wenatchee Police Department is warning residents of various phone scams after getting several reports over the last couple of weeks.

Chief Rick Johnson said the scams mostly involve stimulus money, Social Security and tax returns.

"Anytime you get a call and someone asks you for banking information, Social Security information, or asks you to send them money so they can refund you part of that money, those are red flags for these scam calls," explained Johnson.

If you've been contacted by a scammer or think you've been scammed, call Rivercom at 663-9911 and an officer will call you for information.

"We do track these and we are working several of these to try to report them to the federal government, who monitors this stuff," said Johnson.

The East Wenatchee Police Department also posted on Instagram a warning to residents that the city has seen a recent uptick in graffiti reports.

Johnson said the graffiti is gang-related and officers were able to obtain some suspect information over the weekend.

"We actually had some graffiti on the loop trail. Witnesses called in the suspects that were doing that." added Johnson, "It sounds like it was juveniles. They fled the area prior to police arrival, but we're actively working on all of these investigations."

The tagging has not been restricted to just one part of town, as graffiti has been found in residential areas, the business district and the Loop Trail. If caught, any suspect is likely looking at a malicious mischief charge, the degree of which depends on the value of the surface damaged.