A 47-year-old Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, woman was charged Monday with burglary and related offenses after stealing 30 ounces of gold coins valued at more than $55,000 from an 86-year-old Bethlehem Township woman for whom the suspect was supposed to be caring, police report.
Ivette Robles was arraigned Monday morning before District Judge Nicholas Englesson and housed in Northampton County Prison in lieu of $100,000 bail, court records say.
The elderly woman, who has dementia, began to receive care on June 9, court papers say. Before the care began, family members took anything of value and placed it in a locked upstairs bedroom and told the caretakers to stay off the second floor, police said. The woman in need of care was too weak to get up the stairs, police said.
A family member on June 13 felt Robles was acting suspiciously when he visited near the end of her shift, police said. Robles took a long time to open the front door and then said she had been looking for something that was visible, police said. The cabinet door in the dining room was open as well, police said.
Another family member visited on June 15 and found the door knob to the second floor room very hard to turn before seeing pry marks near the part that locks, police said. The bedroom had been rummaged through — the basement was too, police said. Home care was canceled and the investigation determined 30 ounces of British sovereign (St. George and Dragon) coins valued at $55,317 had been stolen, police said. The coins were in a box near a jewelry box, police said. It wasn’t clear if anything was taken from the jewelry box, but an earring that was inside the box was found outside it, police said.
The caretakers’ employer interviewed the employees assigned to the home and all said they didn’t go into the room, police said. Robles told the employer she never left the woman’s side, police said. Court papers did not name the company.
Pennsylvania State Police determined fingerprint evidence on the jewelry box matched Robles, whose fingerprints were already in the system due to a previous DUI arrest, police said.
“Therefore, it was conclusive that the defendant was in the locked bedroom manipulating the jewelry box with the side palm of her hand, contrary to the statement of her employer,” police said in court papers.
In an interview with police on Monday, Robles couldn’t explain why her palm print was on the jewelry box, saying she was never on the second floor, police said.
In addition to burglary, Robles was charged with criminal trespass, theft, financial exploitation of an older adult or care dependent person and receiving stolen property, police said. All the charges are felonies. Her preliminary hearing is tentatively scheduled 11:30 a.m. Aug. 19 in Central Court in Easton, records say.
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