An overly-aggressive carpet cleaner caused a buzz in Elgin last Wednesday evening.
According to Antelope County Sheriff Bob Moore, an Elgin citizen contacted him at his home last Wednesday evening around 6:30-7 p.m. The citizen felt uneasy about a door-to-door salesman who had stopped at his home and didn’t seem to want to take no for an answer. Moore said the citizen felt “he was very pushy” and was trying to get into houses.
Moore drove south on Highway 14 were he made a visual contact of the person near the corner of 2nd and Elm Street. Once he turned around, the man in question was no where to be found. Unsure of true situation on hand, Moore called in the Nebraska State Patrol (NSP) and additional officers to try to locate the man. NSP and county officers, assisted by Elgin residents, scoured the community but it wasn’t until around 11 p.m. that he was spied again on South Street.
After questioning the man, it was determined that he was unaware of the concern he had raised. According to Moore, he was part of a 3-man team canvassing Elgin and surrounding communities to do in-home carpet cleaning. The man claimed to not see the sheriff when he turned around to question him and he only took off behind some houses to meet up with his other team members in their Suburban to travel to Petersburg and complete some jobs that had been lined up there.
After checking identification and finding that nothing “illegal” had actually occurred, Moore advised the group to “pack up and leave town”. Elgin does have what is commonly called a “Peddler’s Permit” whereby door-to-door salesmen are to acquire the permit at City Hall. This allows the city and law enforcement to know who is doing business in their community and provides a contact name/phone number should an issue occur.
Moore expressed his appreciation of the help that Elgin residents provided law enforcement. “I was impressed with the public support to assist and locate him”, he said.
