Crime & Safety

Suspects Wanted in Alleged Burglary, Elder Abuse Stunt

Police say a 97-year-old nearly blind Murrieta woman was allegedly burglarized by a woman posing as a health care provider and her male accomplice.

UPDATE 5:20 p.m. Feb. 10: Murrieta police have arrested a woman they allege is responsible for the crime.

ORIGINAL POST:

Two unidentified suspects are wanted for allegedly posing as health care providers, then burglarizing their 97-year-old victim.

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Murrieta police allege that at about 10 a.m. Jan. 24, the suspects parked their car in the driveway of a home in the 38500 block of Calle De La Siesta, which is part of a retirement community off Murrieta Hot Springs Road.

A woman knocked on the elderly woman's door and told her she was from Kaiser medical and was assigned to help her at her home, according to a flier posted on the Murrieta Police Department website.

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After the victim allows the woman in her home, police say the suspect began to check canned food items in the kitchen for expiration dates.

Several minutes later, the woman told the victim her son was in the car and needed to use the restroom, police said. The victim then let a white, 18- to 20-year-old man in.

The victim later finds out her credit card, identification and house key are gone, and a .25 caliber Beretta semi-automatic gun was allegedly taken from her bedroom, according to police.

The suspects stayed inside the home for about 25 minutes, then left after the female suspect directed the victim to get some grocery bags from the kitchen, police said.

Because the elderly woman was nearly blind, police said she was unable to give detailed descriptions of the suspects.

But police released surveillance photos of a woman allegedly attempting to use the victim’s Discover credit card at a Provident Bank ATM in Sun City a short time later. Her car was described as a dark-colored Dodge Charger.

Anyone with information regarding the identity of the suspects was asked to call Detective Ullrich at 951-461‐6312 or Detective Sgt. Gomez at 951-461‐6356.


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