A 49-year-old man told Columbus police a clerk in store in the 2000 block of Crown Plaza Drive, stopped him from becoming a further victim of a scam artist at 3:29 p.m. April 26 after he had already sent off $1,200 worth of gift cards.

The victim said he received a call telling him he had to pay money via gift cards in order to receive cash from a bank account in New York.

According to the responding officer, the man has no bank account and has no idea who the suspect is who contacted him.

The victim purchased the required cards over the course of two days until the Kroger employee refused to sell him any more cards, assuming a scam was in progress, according to the officer who handled the case.

In other recent Columbus Division of Police incident reports from northwest Columbus:

* A resident of the 4200 block of Bradhurst Drive reported at 9 a.m. April 26 his residence had been broken into between 7 a.m. and 5:15 p.m. April 25.

Two handguns and a shotgun, worth a combined $1,100, along with $60 in cash and a $70 cable converter box were removed by whoever entered through a bedroom window, according to the victim, a 28-year-old man.

* A 39-year-old woman who lives in the 3000 block of Dublin Arbor Lane filed a complaint at 6:02 p.m. April 26 in which she said she had been duped out of $1,987 in pre-paid gift cards the previous day.

The victim said she had received an email from someone professing to represent the "U.S. Department of Health Services," and subsequently a phone call from the person who claimed to have sent her the email.

She said the caller "told her that she had been selected to receive a prize in the amount of $15,000, but she needed to pay the taxes right away."

The scam took place between 9 a.m. and 7 p.m. April 25.

* A representative of a business in the 6800 block of Caine Road filed a menacing complaint against an upset customer at 11:16 a.m. April 26.

"The victim stated that the suspect had previously dropped off some items to be dry-cleaned at one of the business locations, despite the items having labels stating that they were not to be dry-cleaned," according to the report. "The victim stated that they treated the items appropriately, but that the suspect has claimed that the items were ruined by the business, and that he wanted $1,000. The victim had the items sent to a lab in New York, which apparently determined that the items were not ruined." The alleged threat was issued at 10:30 a.m. April 26.

* Three suspects using sledgehammers broke into a restaurant in the 3700 block of West Dublin-Granville Road at 3:04 a.m. April 23. Damage to the doors and a steel safe was estimated at $1,000, but the report stated nothing was taken.

* A 51-year-old man, said he was assaulted by three people he knew at the intersection of Bunker Hill Boulevard and Braddock Court at 9:45 p.m. April 21.