Police arrest man accused of posing as utility worker, killing homeowner

CADDO PARISH, La. (KTAL/KMSS/NEXSTAR) – A man wanted in connection with a Michigan homicide — during which the suspects posed as utility workers in order to enter the victim’s home — has been arrested in Louisiana, the Caddo Parish Sheriff’s Office announced.

Carlos Jose Hernandez, 37, was arrested Saturday and transported to the Caddo Correction Center, the sheriff’s office said.

Hernandez is one of two suspects accused of posing as a utility worker to gain access to a home in an “upscale” section of Rochester Hills, Michigan, and then killing a 72-year-old male resident on Friday, the Oakland County Sheriff’s Office said.

The men were posing as workers of DTE Energy, an energy company based in Detroit, according to the sheriff’s office. Doorbell camera footage shared by the department shows the two homicide suspects wearing reflective yellow vests, with one of the men holding a clipboard.

The victim’s wife said the men claimed they needed to access the home’s basement about a gas leak, deputies in Michigan said.

“They were allowed in the home and her husband accompanied the two men in the basement, ostensibly to look for the leak,” reads a news release from the Oakland County Sheriff’s Office. “The woman did not see her husband come up from the basement and assumed he had been kidnapped.”

Deputies later arrived at the residence after a 911 call from the victim’s wife. They found her tied with duct tape and her husband dead in the basement.

The victim’s wife told police the men had come to their home the night before, too, but were not admitted inside.

On Saturday, the Caddo Parish Sheriff’s Office in Louisiana was alerted to information that Hernandez was heading from Arkansas to Louisiana on I-49. Deputies spotted the suspect’s vehicle and apprehended Hernandez without incident.

“Hernandez was booked for multiple warrants out of Ohio for armed robbery, as well as a homicide warrant out of the Oakland County Sheriff’s Office,” the Caddo County Sheriff’s Office said.

DTE Energy on Friday also released a statement on the incident urging homeowners to demand to see a badge or identification if a person comes to their homes claiming to be a utility worker.

“It is very rare that a DTE employee would need to enter your home, but it does happen. DTE will use every opportunity to make you aware of any work needing to be done at your home and if possible will contact you in advance to schedule time for the work to be completed,” the company wrote, in part.

Officials in Michigan, meanwhile, are still soliciting tips from the public about the identity or whereabouts of the second suspect.

“We continue to encourage the public to give us any information or tips about suspect number two,” the Oakland County Sheriff’s Office wrote. “We also encourage suspect number two to turn himself in.”

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