Golden Valley, Minneapolis police warn: Beware of gentleman con artist

When it comes to panhandling, no one can match Mark C. Bell for persistence, Golden Valley Police Chief Stacy Altonen said.

In Minneapolis, authorities describe the 50-year-old as well-dressed, well-spoken and, well, a scam artist.

This year Bell (pictured above) has landed in crime alerts in both cities, accused of going door to door with false stories about a broken-down or impounded car, and making pleas for emergency assistance in the $45 range.

Golden Valley, having run out of patience with him, filed five criminal complaints against Bell after he was arrested and cited on March 1 but returned with the same pitches on March 5, March 6 and March 16.

According to the charges, one woman who was led to believe Bell worked at a local group home gave him $70 on March 16. He'd only asked for $46.50. The next day, she went to the home to check on him, and was told he didn't work there.

"He is a chronic solicitor who has been very bothersome to our residents," Altonen said. The suburb has seen panhandling "here or there" before, she said, but there has been "nothing this prolonged." Golden Valley has issued three crime alerts this year, and each has been about Bell.

Bell, who has told authorities he lives in Bloomington, has a criminal record dating to the 1980s, with theft, forgery and drug possession appearing most often on the conviction list. He also has a history of lying to police.

He was booked into the Hennepin County jail and released last Monday, with charges pending in the Minneapolis case. Next Wednesday he is scheduled to be back in Hennepin County District Court -- this time in response to the five Golden Valley complaints.

Crisp, neat and a criminal

Minneapolis police warned North Side residents on April 13 of a "well-known scam artist" able to win over some people with his neat appearance and crisp speech. The elements of his story were the same: car trouble, a need for cash, promised payback.

The suspect, who often went by the name "Marcus Bell," police said, might even drop a neighbor's name, too.

Steinar Berg, 71, of Golden Valley, said Thursday that he witnessed the routine on March 16, when a man he later identified as Bell leaned on the glass of his locked storm door and asked to use the phone. He told Berg his car had broken down on Noble Avenue N., near a church where he worked as a janitor.

With that, the visitor jumped into an old gray Ford parked in Berg's cul-de-sac, started it up and drove away. When told that Bell had won the trust of someone else earlier that night, Berg said, "I can see it happening, but not too frequently."

Altonen said no one has called about Bell for at least three weeks. She advised people who are approached by others for money to offer to let the individual use a cell phone to call a relative, or to call the relative themselves.

Bell, as it turns out, has a cellphone, according to the police report about last week's Minneapolis arrest.

He did not return a call for comment Friday.