Burglar enters Great Neck home, then flees

An 81-year-old Great Neck woman was confronted Thursday afternoon by a stranger in her living room who fled, detectives said, when the woman didn't buy his excuse for being there, and said she was calling police.

The burglar had claimed that he worked for the Town of North Hempstead, police said, and needed to get into the rear yard of her Jayson Avenue home regarding the installation of a fence.

Detectives said the woman's 87-year-old husband had also been confronted outside their home by a man who asked to be taken to their rear yard. It was unclear whether they saw the same man.

Neither was injured, Nassau police said, and nothing was apparently stolen.

Investigators said it was undetermined whether this incident is related to a string Nassau burglaries in recent months, in which a team of burglars targeted elderly residents by posing as repairman or neighbors.

Investigators asked that anyone with information concerning this incident call Crime Stoppers at 800-233-TIPS.