Woman convinced to hold down toilet handle as conman robs her

A 91-year-old Jersey City woman was conned by a burglar pretending to be a utility company employee.
He told her that there was a water emergency and that if she didn't hold down the flusher on her toilet, the house would explode.
Meanwhile, he stole almost $4000 in cash from her apartment.

From The Jersey Journal:

The man first opened and shut a faucet in the kitchen and then went into the victim's bathroom where he flushed the toilet, reports said.

The man then instructed the victim to "hold down the flush handle or else the house will explode," reports said...

But after about two minutes, the victim told police "I didn't care if the house exploded" and walked into her living-room, at which time she discovered her house had been ransacked, reports said.

"Jersey City senior holds toilet handle while water company impostor ransacks house"