A seemingly gracious deed quickly turned sour after a man robbed an elderly couple Sunday afternoon after helping the couple load their groceries into their minivan at Capitol Centre Market, Madison police reported.

Initially, the suspect asked the couple for a few dollars in exchange for his labor, the police report said. However, the crime took a strange turn when he convinced the couple to drop him off at Catalpa Road, then threatened to harm the 82-year-old husband if he refused to hand over his wallet once in the vehicle, the report said.

The report said the couple handed the suspect the wallet. After he fled the scene on foot, the couple returned home to call the police.

According to Madison Police Department spokesperson Joel DeSpain, older people are typically primary targets for criminals in cases such as these.

DeSpain said although older people have been victimized by robbers before, officers usually do not come across criminals trying to get into the cars of elderly people and take their money from them in that way.

“Typically we see more of those types of crimes happen when people show up at older peoples’ homes and try to do work for them,” DeSpain said. “Then they ask for more money than they said they would originally need.”

The report said the initial investigation suggests there may have been a second man in the victims’ car that drove to Catalpa Road with them. The police report said the primary suspect is a black male in his 20s with a bald or shaved head.

DeSpain said police officers currently have leads as to who committed the crime, but no suspects have been caught or arrested for the robbery at this time.