District attorney teams with Gilroy police to create PSA on landscape scams

The Santa Clara District Attorney’s office teamed with the Gilroy Police Department to create a public service announcement warning county residents about landscape scams. 

“As a result of the incidents that are occurring down here in South County, the District Attorney’s office and the police department are working together to run a PSA that is a broad announcement to make all county residents aware of the issue,” said Gilroy Police Sgt. Chad Gallacinao. 

The PSA will be available on the District Attorney’s website and on public access channels across the county.

“We know there is a landscape scammer in South County, but really, this kind of stuff happens all over the county,” said Janet Berry, deputy district attorney.

The PSA tells people the signs of a door-to-door scammer, and who to contact if scammed. 

The Dispatch wrote an April 24 story about a landscaper who allegedly goes door-to-door scamming people in South County. Since that story, 12 more people contacted the Dispatch with strikingly similar stories of being scammed by a middle-aged man named Michael Oliveira.

At first police said the matter was civil and would not investigate it, but on May 7, Gallacinao told the Dispatch that police had opened up an investigation and encouraged victims to contact, or re-contact police with any information they have on the landscape scammer.