Monday, January 17, 2022

Police: nursing assistant stole thousands from resident at The Gardens at Wyoming Valley

by Dylan Fearon
 
Inside The Gardens at Wyoming Valley nursing home, residents expect to be cared for. So do their families. 
 
What they don't expect is a certified nursing assistant to steal thousands of dollars from a man living there.

But Wilkes-Barre City police say that's exactly what happened in September and October of last year.

Cops are accusing certified nursing assistant Alyssa Nappa, 24, with stealing a resident's wallet, which had his identification, social security card and debit card in it. 

The resident's son visited his father and noticed the wallet missing. After calling M&T Bank, they realized there were a large number of withdraws on the account, totaling more than $10,000. Then the resident froze his account.

Police were able to obtain records from the nursing home to find out which employees had worked on the resident's floor from September 16 to October 8. Police then obtained surveillance footage of Nappa and Zachary Wengzen, 25, withdrawing money and using the debit card at several local establishments. "Approximately $13,049 in withdraws and fees were taken out of (the victim's) bank account from 9/27/2021 to 10/12/2021 before he was able to freeze his account," the criminal complaint says.

Police say Nappa was an employee at the nursing home, but hasn't been showing up to shifts. Police have also attempted to contact Nappa but have been unsuccessful. Nappa and Wengzen have been charged with theft, receiving stolen property and access device fraud. Warrants are out for both of their arrests.

FOX56 interviewed Nappa in May when she and other employees at The Gardens at Wyoming Valley were protesting and demanding better pay and conditions in nursing homes. 

"When the pandemic started, a lot of people walked off the jobs because it has been very hard, very stressful," Nappa said in May. Just months later, the alleged theft took place. 

Nappa and Wengzen's arrest warrants were signed by magisterial district judge Thomas F. Malloy.

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