Con man caught on camera in St. Augustine

ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. — “He’s just a con artist.”

That's how Debra Valenti-Epstein described the man who came to her St. Augustine door Monday.
As seen in her surveillance video, he comes from around the corner, walks up to her property and greets her husband. We're told his lies start there.

“Started to tell him a very long story about how he was a new neighbor, lives around the corner. And, his daughters were coming home in a taxi. He was just getting off work, he only had $20 in his pocket, could my husband help him with some cab fare?” Valenti-Epstein explained.

John Epstein thought that was odd, so he went inside, grabbed a notepad and asked for the suspect’s name and number. He scribbled down the name “Dan McDermitt.”

“There’s like two people with his name spelling in the country. He doesn’t live at the address he said, and the phone number was a very nice man in Long Island. He was clean enough. He didn’t look like he was homeless, he wasn’t like shaking like a drug addict. He was fairly calm. He was very smooth,” Valenti-Epstein said.

We’re told “Dan” has made the rounds and has been telling variations of his story for the past week to neighbors. He hasn’t hurt anyone, but to Epstein that doesn’t matter. He left their home with $30, and before he strikes again, she wants him caught.

“It’s not a true story, and I wanted to get it out there that the man is not telling the truth; he’s not who he says he is, he doesn’t live in our neighborhood and he’s not going to pay you back,” she said.

Since Epstein’s encounter, the St. Augustine Police Department has issued a scam alert.

Cox Media Group