Fire official impersonator still at large

The man who introduced himself as a fire inspector to the Chapel Hill Pediatrics and Adolescents staff on Monday wasn’t wearing a uniform — the first thing that made Practice Manager Mary Sheppard think something was wrong.

“I was sitting in my office on the phone when some male poked his head into my office,” Sheppard said.

The front desk let the man in after he said he needed to inspect the fire extinguishers. Sheppard described him as clean-cut and well dressed.

He wasn’t there very long. When Sheppard got off the phone and went to look for him, he was gone.

“I think people should be aware and ask more questions when they let some strange person walk through their office,” Sheppard said.

A man has been using the guise of a fire inspector to gain entry into several local businesses, and he could be linked to crimes in Fayetteville, Chapel Hill Fire Marshal Matt Lawrence said.

At least two Sage Road businesses encountered the man Monday, and at least four businesses in Durham reported similar incidents.

Lawrence said he is fairly confident the same person is connected to all cases.

The unidentified man who entered Chapel Hill Pediatric Dentistry, which reported the incident to police Wednesday, was described as a black male in his late 30s or early 40s and is about 6 feet tall.

He was wearing khaki pants, a white shirt and a blue vest, Lawrence said.

Similar incidents occurred in Fayetteville in November when a man identified himself as a fire inspector to gain access to businesses and missing items were later reported.

Lawrence said the same man might have been responsible for the incidents in all three locations.

The department is looking at photos of the suspect from Fayetteville, but there is no concrete evidence linking the crimes, Lawrence said.

Nothing was stolen at any of the Chapel Hill locations that the man entered, but at a Durham business the suspect was spotted looking through an employee’s pocketbook.

When confronted, the man fled with the purse, Lawrence said.

Chapel Hill Police Capt. Leo Vereen said a real fire inspector will always provide identification and credentials.

“When our inspectors go in, sometimes, there’s that level of trust that a business owner places in a uniformed official,” Lawrence said.

“We’ll never come unannounced.”

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