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Boston's own Diogenes, forever searching for that one good tire

By adamg on Mon, 02/01/2016 - 11:16am
Elliot Davis in the Financial District

Jed Hresko was walking through the Financial District this morning when a guy who seemed vaguely familiar came up to him. He reports:

When he asked me $ for flat tire I realized who he is!

Yes, our own Elliot Davis, who has been struggling with that same flat tire for years now.

In addition to his tire problems, Davis is also a bit camera shy, as Hresko discovered.

Neighborhoods: 
Downtown
Free tagging: 
Financial District
Elliot Davis


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Comments

By ZachAndTired on Mon, 02/01/2016 - 11:19am.

Scammed me like 10 years ago and got real angry when I "only" gave him 5 bucks.

By Scumquistador on Mon, 02/01/2016 - 4:28pm.

classic

By mikex617x on Mon, 02/01/2016 - 4:47pm.

maybe you should have been more generous!

By boo_urns on Mon, 02/01/2016 - 11:24am.

I'm surprised he didn't threaten the photographer rather than try to hide his face...not his typical MO as far as I've read in others' encounters.

By Pete Nice on Mon, 02/01/2016 - 11:34am.

And remember specifically at the time he had about 75-100 arraignments already. He is about 60 years old now, but I must say he looks pretty damn good for his age!!!

God bless the bastard.

By section77 on Mon, 02/01/2016 - 11:36am.

I've heard this song and dance around time many times. Somehow "I gotta get back to Quincy" is always a part of it (a Germantown thing?). Many years ago when I heard this the first time I gave the guy $5 too, and he complained "but I told you I need $10" and I replied sorry, but I only believe your story $5 worth.

By Scumquistador on Mon, 02/01/2016 - 4:29pm.

your wit really slayed him i bet

By Ahab on Mon, 02/01/2016 - 11:42am.

He complemented my sportscoat once. I liked that :)

By Steeve on Mon, 02/01/2016 - 11:45am.

How did he complement it? Were you guys matching?

By Ahab on Mon, 02/01/2016 - 1:10pm.

It's a Calvin Klein coat and I was on my way to class when I encountered him (gave him zilch) lol but I just read in the blog about him that he was recently locked up for assaulting a couple, so be sure to call him out on that...

By Boston_res on Mon, 02/01/2016 - 11:47am.

A few widely published photos of the chronic panhandlers may help curb this behavior.

By nona on Mon, 02/01/2016 - 2:20pm.

There has been a tall skinny African American man in DTC recently who is dressed well and spins a few tales. He tried me 2 days in a row with different stories when I called him on it all he said was awe come on man. There is also a white guy with a mustache outside Dunkins at Summer & Lincoln St between DTC & South Station. He doesn't have a scam but says he is a vet. occasionally wears army sweat pants. He is dressed in either new New Balance sneakers or boots a puffy jacket and a winter hat. I see him most mornings then I saw him playing lottery one afternoon. Again, not a scam just seems like there are more desperate folks on that block.

By relaxyapsycho on Mon, 02/01/2016 - 2:25pm.

In response to a post about a black con man, you tell us about your encounter with another African American scam artist who told you two tall tales in consecutive days.

Then, to assure the world that you're not racist, you tell us about a white homeless veteran you saw panhandling. NOT A PANHANDLER! IN THE CITY! OHHH THE HUMANITY!

By nona on Mon, 02/01/2016 - 3:57pm.

Not justifying with a response

By relaxyapsycho on Mon, 02/01/2016 - 4:05pm.

re·sponse
rəˈspäns/
noun
a verbal or written answer.
a reaction to something

By whatsboothinking? on Mon, 02/01/2016 - 11:54am.

can i get some context on this guy? does he just pull flat tire scams?

By adamg on Mon, 02/01/2016 - 11:56am.

And he sometimes gets very angry at people who refuse to help him. And he's been doing it for years. I linked to a site with examples, but here's that link again.

By Cappy on Mon, 02/01/2016 - 12:00pm.

He always has a whole story. He always looks legit. He's dressed up. Once he was pulling his crap in front of me and I kept butting in and asking how many more people he was going to ask. I told him he had enough to buy ten tires. He got angry and loud. Then left.

By Boston_res on Mon, 02/01/2016 - 12:11pm.

I'd be surprised if he didn't. I vaguely remember him calling an entire Starbuck's racist, customers and all.

By anon on Mon, 02/01/2016 - 12:30pm.

I called his ass out harassing a lady in Dewey Sq., he called me a racist, the white devil and faggot!

By anon on Mon, 02/01/2016 - 12:37pm.

You can't know he wasn't right?

By anon on Mon, 02/01/2016 - 11:49pm.

He probably makes enough money to live off so it can be considered his job.
I remember NYTimes magazine did story about the panhandlers on the subway -many of them lived in the subway tnnels. The most ambitious made 30-40k cash but they blew every dime on drugs. This was in the early 90s. The panhandlers in NYC sometimes entertained but they commanded the whole car. An award winning documentary was made about them http://www.theguardian.com/film/2014/jan/26/dark-days-marc-singer-new-york

By RosiMama on Tue, 02/02/2016 - 7:16am.

I vividly remember that article because the panhandlers made more than I did at my full-time job!

By kwapt on Mon, 12/02/2019 - 10:45am.

The link’s broken-looks like Blogger deactivated the site.

By adamg on Mon, 12/02/2019 - 7:12pm.

I've taken down the link.

By anon on Mon, 02/01/2016 - 4:45pm.

This is what people will be pining for once the terrible yuppie gentrifiers have finished destroying the gritty old Boston of Eddie Coyle and Spenser for Hire.

Edited as per suggested below. The books were kind of gritty, right?

By chaosjake on Mon, 02/01/2016 - 1:47pm.

Spenser for Hire already destroyed the gritty old Boston of Robert B Parker's Spenser novels.

By spin_o_rama on Mon, 02/01/2016 - 1:15pm.

Young, naive college student new to the city, figured the guy had a rough day cause I think part of the story included a flat AND a sick relative. What caused me some concern but didn't deter me from giving him money was that he was quick to up the amount of money he needed, it was $5 to start and I think I ended up giving him a 20? Was around the corner heading up to Stop and Shop not five minutes later and realized I'd been scammed.

Fool me once....

By ShamusJP on Mon, 02/01/2016 - 3:59pm.

Usually his disabled son is in the car with the flat tire.

By Nice Try on Mon, 02/01/2016 - 1:08pm.

He's been around.

Damn, it had to be like 10 years ago he came up to me on Centre street in JP with the flat tire/kid in car scam. He has story down pat, car make/model license plate etc. Said he needed money for fix a flat. Did it in front of True Value so I said lets go in and I'll buy you a can of fix a flat.

He immediately ran away and yelled profanities.

Funny thing is as I was driving home, I saw him about 20 mins later down by Stony Brook getting his ass whooped by a bunch of spanish looking guys with a baseball bat. They picked him up and slammed him on the sidewalk near a car.

I believe those were the Mozart street gang. Hate to say it, but inside, I was OK with what the gang was doing. Street Justice.

By anon on Mon, 02/01/2016 - 2:42pm.

He must make pretty good money if that kind of stuff doesn't dissuade him.

By Boss-J on Mon, 02/01/2016 - 1:09pm.

I would have never known I was scammed had I not read this column. He offered me his mobile phone and his wallet to hold, he said he would meet me and pay me back that night. The wallet and phone thing was so convincing. I gave him $17 which was all I had and I told him to keep it and he didn't need to meet me. Oh well, I will know better should we ever cross paths again.

By peter on Mon, 02/01/2016 - 1:51pm.

His story - he has a flat tire, his car is nearby, with his *kid* in it. He's been to several gas stations and they won't take his credit card, so he needs cash. His stories weren't even good enough to snag me as a naive new city dweller:

1. How many real parents would leave their kid locked in a car while they wander around town? 2. What gas station are you even pretending to have gone to, within walking distance of the Public Garden?

By FootPad on Mon, 02/01/2016 - 1:52pm.

This article, the photo, the blog, etc.

Thanks everyone for compiling and broadcasting this information.

By J on Mon, 02/01/2016 - 3:46pm.

He got me as a college freshman 10 years ago. I had just had a very, very, very good night. Walking home at 5am or so I gave him a $20 because I was in the very best mood.

I figured out it was a scam when I woke up at 4pm that day. But whatever, still a very, very, very good night.

By ShamusJP on Mon, 02/01/2016 - 3:56pm.

I got a great pic of him at Jackson a year or 2 ago. Adam retweeted it.

By ShamusJP on Mon, 02/01/2016 - 4:00pm.

I wonder if he still works for Verizon. Lol

By AMCoffee on Tue, 02/02/2016 - 8:48am.

Sounds like he's been around doing this scam so long his routine once included that he worked for NYNEX

By tcf098 on Mon, 02/01/2016 - 4:19pm.

I'll never forget my encounter with him.

Outside of the BBY station on Dartmouth Street, around 1am on a frigid February weekend back in 2014. I had just left Salty Pig and was pretty much half in the bag when he approached me. He get's real cowardly when you tell him you know who he is and to go f*ck off.

By Idiot on Mon, 02/01/2016 - 7:33pm.

Oh geez...this happened to me years ago in JP. Until now I didn't realize it was a scam. I left the situation with him feeling really good about myself, thinking I had helped a random stranger. Oh well.

By anon on Mon, 02/01/2016 - 9:06pm.

Well, in fact you did help a random stranger.

By Anonanonanon on Mon, 02/01/2016 - 9:39pm.

Near northeastern, had great day at work, in good mood, $10 lesson that even skeptical people can be more jaded. Now, calling 911 is all I'll do within 5 miles of city limits for a lone person.

By Hermes on Fri, 03/25/2016 - 6:26pm.

Walking to the bus in the Fenway/Kenmore area, I was stopped by Elliot Davis last night (March 24, 2016). I had never heard of him, and his story about the fix a flat was plausible (stupid me). I got some money for him and he gave me his phone number by calling my phone to show that it was a real phone number. I thought I had done the right thing, but after 10 minutes of thinking it over, I knew I had been had. So I woke up today and looked up online "fix a flat scam Boston" and what do you know, our good friend Elliot Davis pops up. I usually don't care if people ask me for money, but the fact this guy goes to such extremes, is pushy, and pulls at your heart strings makes me pissed. If someone did need money, now they aren't going to get it because I'll never give money on the street ever again. But...back to his phone number. I called it today to make sure it was real...and it is. Good 'ol Elliot said that he'll need a new tire (no shit...he'll probably need another three and a car to go with it). Here's this scum bum's phone number in case you want to let him know how you feel: 857-333-2094 Also...I'm sure he hasn't filed for a non-profit and isn't reporting this money he takes in from people (I'm sure it's a nice sum after all these years) to the IRS, so I don't feel bad putting his phone number on here. He is a cheater of life and what is right. Give him your anger, not your money.

By Jon1234234325 on Tue, 08/30/2016 - 7:51pm.

He got me too.

http://i.imgur.com/GHcqySF.jpg

His ID, he showed to me. 49 Alpine St, Apt 1, Roxbury MA

By Kokernutz on Mon, 04/10/2023 - 7:27pm.

delete me adam