Friday, July 24, 2015

Caregiver accused of stealing $28K in jewelry from elderly patient


A home health care worker is accused of stealing her elderly patient's jewelry, worth $28,000, and pawning it, deputies said.

The Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office arrested Barbara Royal, 32, on Tuesday.

According to an arrest report, Royal had just started work as an at-home health care worker for a Wellington woman for less than a week when the woman's daughter became suspicious of Royal.

She told deputies Royal started working with the family on July 9, and on July 15 the daughter decided to check around the house to see if anything was missing.

She discovered her mother's gold wedding band, a bracelet and a necklace were all missing. The jewelry is worth about $28,000, deputies said.

A search of the county's pawn shop database showed Royal had pawned the woman's ring on July 9. She received $190 for it, deputies said.

Royal is charged with grand theft, exploitation of an elderly person, dealing in stolen property and false verification of ownership.

Deputies said Royal also worked as a home heath care worker in other Palm Beach and Miami-Dade county homes and think she might have stolen from other people. They ask anyone who had Royal as a nurse and think they might be a victim to call Detective Krystal Gornall at 561-688-4043

She was released from the Palm Beach County Jail on Wednesday.

Full Article & Source:
Caregiver accused of stealing $28K in jewelry from elderly patient

2 comments:

Jamie said...

Background checks and prosecution are the only answer.

Anonymous said...

She was released ......looks like thievery is not looked down upon in the court .,,,