Jewelry taken in fake power worker con

An 80-year-old Massapequa Park man decorating his home for the holidays was hoodwinked by burglars pretending to work for the power company, police said.

The man was decorating his home on Philadelphia Avenue about 2 p.m. Tuesday when he was approached by a man in his mid-30s, with a diamond stud in his lower lip, unshaven and wearing a light-colored baseball cap, police said.

The man told the homeowner he was from the power company and got him to go to the back yard, where he spent about 20 minutes explaining how utility work in the yard would proceed, police said. The homeowner last saw the man walking south on Philadelphia Avenue, police said.

When the homeowner's wife returned, she found an unknown amount of jewelry was missing from an upstairs bedroom, police said.

"This sort of thing, unfortunately, happens year round, but we haven't gotten any calls about it recently," a police spokeswoman said.

Detectives asked anyone with information about the incident to call Nassau County Crime Stoppers at 800-244-8477.