Police Seek Elder Abuse Suspects in $1,200 Theft

Two women who allegedly stole nearly $1,200 from an 83-year-old after befriending him at a Murrieta grocery store are sought.

The alleged elder abuse and theft occurred at about 2 p.m. July 27 when the suspects offered the man a ride home from Ralphs at 40545 California Oaks Road.

With no leads in the case, the Murrieta police detective bureau released surveillance footage of the alleged crime.

The man told police he walked to the store from his Skyview Ridge Drive apartment the afternoon of July 27.

He said he was approached in the parking lot of Ralph's by two women who pulled up to him in their car and sparked up a conversation.

The first suspect allegedly continued talking with the man, telling him she lived in the same apartment complex and offering to give him a ride home.

Surveillance footage from Ralphs and released by police show a second suspect getting out the car and entering the store while the other parked.

The first suspect and the man entered and exited the store together.

The second suspect is shown talking with older elderly people in the store.

Surveillance video shows the three leaving together from the Ralphs parking lot in a white Chevy or GMC SUV.

According to the victim's statement released by police, the man allowed the women to drive him home.

Once inside his apartment, the victim said one of the suspects asked to use his restroom while the other talked with him.

The two women visited for a few minutes longer, then left, according to the statement.

The victim told police he became suspicious of the women and decided to check his bedroom, where he had a large amount of cash hidden.

He remembered there being about $1,140 in cash, mostly in one hundred dollar bills, he told police. He turned over photocopies he'd taken of the bills to police.

He told police he did not know the women, and that he was confident they did not live in the complex.

Detectives obtained surveillance footage from Ralphs, and confirmed the alleged crime.

The suspects were described as Hispanic women who spoke to each other in Spanish, but whom did not have noticeable accents when speaking English.

The first suspect was described as heavyset, about 5-foot-6-inches tall weighing about 200 pounds. She was wearing a black, long-sleeved v-neck shirt with blue jeans and white tennis shoes.

The second suspect was described as about 5-feet-6-inches tall and 130 pounds. She was wearing a long tank dress with gray and white horizontal stripes, and had a necklace with an approximately quarter-sized pendant lying on her chest.

Both women had their hair pinned up.

They were driving a white, mid-2000s GMC or Chevy Yukon of Suburban.

Anyone with information about their identities was encouraged to contact Murrieta police Sgt. Phil Gomez at 951-461-6356.