90-year-old woman recounts almost becoming a victim of a jewelry scam

“Everybody knows me and they all wave and I’ll wave back.”

90-year-old Helene Harrison says one of her friendly waves got her in a bit of trouble about three weeks ago.

Harrison, who’s partially blind, was watering in her front yard in Shoreline when she heard someone in a passing vehicle say something, and she waved.

“It went up to the light, made a U-turn and quickly came into my driveway,” said Harrison.

A woman got out of the vehicle and Helene said she knew something was wrong.

“Because I’m handicapped and vision-impaired I didn’t dare move and she said ‘It’s my birthday, I want to share my good wishes with you and she put a ring in my hand and I said ‘I don’t want it’ and while she’s doing that, she’s putting a necklace, a piece of junk around my neck,” said Harrison.

Helene said the woman managed to take off her gold cross necklace and then tried to steal her diamond pendant, but she couldn’t undo it.

“She couldn’t get this off, it’s got a safety clasp on it. I happened to look down and she’s got my cross in her hand… and I took it away from her,” she said.

The would-be thieves left empty-handed, while Helene was still wearing the necklace the woman put around her neck.

“When they left I threw it out in the street and I said a nasty word.”

Harrison says if the woman had used more force, she easily could have been hurt.

She then called the police.

“She was about in her 40s or 50s, very nicely dressed, very attractive woman,” said Harrison.

Helene says, that despite her poor vision, she could tell the couple were in a white SUV.

Recent similar street robberies reported in the Bellevue and Redmond areas also involved white SUVs,  though it’s not confirmed they are the same vehicles.