Fake SoCal Edison worker terrifies South Pasadena woman

SOUTH PASADENA, Calif. - A scary situation in South Pasadena after a woman is woken up in the middle of the night by a man claiming to be a Southern California Edison employee.

Erin Fitzgerald was adamant about moving into her Fremont Avenue bungalow a couple of months ago because the safe, South Pasadena neighborhood reminded her of sleepy Mayberry.

But at 3:30 am on Sunday, that mindset changed.

A man in a Misfits t-shirt on a Razor scooter that Fitzgerald believes was peeping in her window, rang her doorbell. 

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“The scariest part is that I just don’t know what he wanted,” says Fitzgerald.

“I know that he was lying and for the life of me I can’t figure out what he wanted.”She grabbed a weapon and five minutes later, he rang twice more.

“He got really freaked out when he saw what I was holding and then he told me he had come with the city to tell me my neighborhood and Rosemead were going to lose power shortly.

I just said, ‘that’s not true.’”Fitzgerald knew that Southern California Edison, that he claimed to be with, notifies customers of outages over the phone and workers to wear a badge and uniform.

“I was like, ‘you’re wearing a Misfits t-shirt! You’re not official.’ He would’ve been holding a clipboard or had identification, nothing. He was, to me, obviously on drugs.”

The man defended his fake identity until she basically said to get off her porch or “else.

”He just took off really fast towards Fremont and that was the last I saw of him, thank God,” says Fitzgerald.  

South Pasadena police officers responded and searched for the man with a flashlight to no avail.

 “I felt really safe here and I guess you can’t really ever stop watching your back,” she says.  

Southern California Edison confirms the man was not one of their workers and says and don’t ever open the door, even if someone claims to be a company worker.

SoCal Edison says it will contact customers ahead of time via email, text or call, based on how customers set up their accounts. 

Fitzgerald describes the man as in his 20’s with a tall and thin build, and on Sunday morning, he was wearing a black beanie, a black Misfits T-shirt and dark shorts, riding a Razor scooter.

If you have any information, you’re asked to call South Pasadena police.