By Jessie Burchette
jburchette@salisburypost.com
The man police are seeking for multiple flim-flams is on parole after a life prison sentence for robbing and terrorizing elderly Salisbury residents in the 1990s.
Salisbury Police are asking for help in locating Santo (Santos) Monicon Shipp, 48, 317 N. Martin Luther King Ave.
He is wanted on 12 counts of obtaining property by false pretense.
Police say that over the past two months, Shipp has used some version of a family tragedy and a broken down car to get money from several Salisbury residents.
Many have come forward and told police of the scam. Others who were approached or contacted but didn’t give money have also contacted police.
Chief Mark Wilhelm said Monday police have checked all of Shipp’s known hang-outs, but haven’t found him.
In August 1994, Superior Court Judge Tom Seay sentenced Shipp to life in prison for first-degree burglary and common law robbery.
Shipp was accused of knocking on doors of homes of elderly residents, pushing his way in, beating and robbing them. The incidents occurred on Park Avenue.
During the sentencing, an assistant district attorney told Judge Seay that the elderly residents had been terrorized and the remainder of their lives had been ruined.
To get inside the houses, Shipp offered tales about needing money for gasoline or medical bills and that he had car trouble.
In 1993, Shipp pleaded guilty to misdemeanor attempted breaking and entering for a similar incident involving a 78-year-old Church Street woman.
In that instance a woman who was legally blind was repeatedly robbed of TVs and other property.
Shipp pleaded guilty and was sentenced to two years in jail. He served less than one month after being given credit for time served in the county jail.
According to the N.C. Department of Corrections Web site, Shipp was paroled on Nov. 17, 2007. He remains on parole until Nov. 15, 2012.
Wilhelm said he isn’t sure how Shipp managed to be paroled after serving 13 years of a life sentence. He noted that typically a person sentenced to life, prior to Structured Sentencing, served a minimum of 20 years before being eligible for parole.
Anyone with information on his whereabouts is asked to call CrimeStoppers at 1-866-639-5244 or the Salisbury Police Department at 704-638-5333.