BRIDGEPORT — Bridgeport Assistant Police Chief Darby Copeland is warning residents of a scam currently occurring in the village.

Copeland said that residents have recently been receiving phone calls and emails saying that the individual is collecting donations for the Bridgeport Police Department, which is untrue.

“This has happened before in the area with other police agencies, but it’s the first time for us,” Copeland said. “Somebody is reaching out via email or phone call saying they’re collecting donations on behalf of the Bridgeport Police Department and that’s obviously not true.”

He added that he wants to make it a point to spread the word as much as he can to the community that the police department is not accepting donations.

“We wanted to put it out to our community right away because we have a very generous community,” he said. ” We didn’t want them to think they were donating to us when they weren’t.”

He added that anytime residents receive a phone call from anybody asking for donations to local public safety entities, they should verify that with the appropriate fire department or police department before donating.

Copeland said that the police department is investigating the scam calls and emails and following up on any leads that it’s received.

“The reality of it is we get identity theft calls on a regular basis. And it’s very, very difficult to get to the bottom of them because many aren’t anywhere even in the USA,” Copeland said. “Unfortunately it’s almost impossible.”

Another incident that has recently caused a stir in Bridgeport is the false reports of a dead body behind the Fat Apple Bakery.

Copeland said that the rumor began on social media and has found zero evidence that anything out of the usual occurred behind the bakery.

“It was nothing more than a rumor and we’d like to put that out there as quickly as possible before it floats throughout the community,” Copeland said.

He added that he spoke to Fat Apple Bakery owner Whitney Rhodes Stemkowski to see if she saw anything suspicious after he found nothing which he said Stemkowski confirmed that she didn’t find anything out of the ordinary behind her store.