99-year-old woman in quarantine, but nurse went on a spending spree, police say

A 99-year-old woman has remained isolated for months in a Sarasota assisted living facility due to the coronavirus pandemic, but her credit card was being used all over Manatee and Sarasota counties since early July.

According to Sarasota police, a 29-year-old nurse who worked at the nursing home is responsible.

Police say Yolanda Taite made multiple purchases of more than $2,000, including at a liquor store and nail salon.

Detectives launched an investigation in early July after family members of the elderly woman noticed multiple charges to the victim’s credit card, knowing it was not possible for her to be out of the assisted living facility during the pandemic.

Charges were made at local restaurants, clothing stores and retail outlets in both Bradenton and Sarasota.

Detectives began following the trail of expenditures and collected video surveillance of the transactions.

The videos showed Taite and an unknown male suspect in some of the transactions, on her own, with another female, and with a group of children during other transactions.

While making purchases with the unidentified male suspect, he used a credit card of an 85-year-old elderly male who also lives at the same nursing home where Taite worked, according to the Sarasota police report. She was terminated upon her arrest.

According to the arrest report, Taite later used that same card at a nail salon and when questioned about the male’s name on the card she was using to pay for services, told the employee, “It belongs to a guy I take care of,” according to the report.

Detectives say on the video at a local liquor store, Taite is wearing her work name tag.

The name of the facility was not released, but police say Taite began to work there in February 2019. Management told police that Taite had full access to patients’ rooms where credit cards and Social Security cards are accessible.

Taite was charged with two counts of grand theft from a person over the age of 65, and an arrest warrant has been issued for her to additionally charge her with elderly exploitation after a third family has come forward with a similar complaint.

The investigation is ongoing and detectives believe there may be additional victims. A search for the male suspect also is underway.

Anyone with information is asked to call Sarasota Police Detective Jessica Sullivan at 941-263-6070 or call Crime Stoppers at 941-366-TIPS.

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99-year-old woman in quarantine, but nurse went on a spending spree, police say