Friday, July 10, 2009

Woman Accused of Victimizing an Elderly

CA - Bakersfield Police need help finding a woman accused of victimizing an elderly person.

Police say the suspect stole property, and money from the victim's northeast Bakersfield home.

The suspect is 24-year-old Lauren Ruth Vance, the incident she's wanted for stems from a burglary in April where authorities say Vance was familiar with the elderly victim, and cased the home prior to burglarizing it. Detective Mary DeGeare: "The elderly are more vulnerable, they come from a time period where they want to trust people." It's that trust police say may have been violated Vance allegedly broke into a home in April, stealing money, and property from an elderly resident.

DeGeare: "She knew them, she was familiar with their habits, with their assets, and waited until they were not home, and planned and participated in the burglary."

Police say Vance is wanted for residential burglary, grand theft and financial elder abuse.

Sandy Morris, with the BPD's crime prevention unit: "Financial abuse to an elder is financial suicide."

Morris say in these types of situations, where the suspect knows the victim, then takes advantage of them, it can be especially damaging.

Morris: "If you and I get taken advantage of, we buy something that's bogus and we have to recoup the money, we can go to work tomorrow and make it back. But a senior has no way of doing that."

That's why Morris says it's important to keep a watchful eye on your elderly residents.

If you have any information on this case, or know the whereabouts of Lauren Vance, you are asked to call police at 327-7111.

Source:
Bakersfield police need help finding a woman accused of elder abuse

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

I am always glad to see these alerts posted on the NASGA blog. The more publicity, the faster they'll find the perps!

Anonymous said...

Thank you, NASGA, for helping spread the word about these criminals!

Anonymous said...

Lauren Ruth Vance is a serious threat to society; she is a financial predator, she must be put in her cage before she does more harm or is responsible for the death of her victims.

Sort of reminds me of: from tv to prison at this NASGA site. Could Vance be a relative or a clone?

Anonymous said...

Ms. Vance should have put her energy into getting a job instead of stealing from people who, most likely, were kind to her. People like her, who think of no one but themselves, just don't understand karma.