Times staff
Friday, October 29, 2010
Times staff
BROOKSVILLE — The elderly woman suspected that someone had been stealing thousands of dollars from her home, but she told deputies she couldn't be sure. A hidden video camera, however, told the tale.
The 92-year-old woman told Hernando County Sheriff's deputies that she goes to the bank every few months to get cash, always $5,000 or more, so that she doesn't have to drive more often to the bank for withdraws. But lately, she has suspected that someone has been stealing her cash, noting that she has lost a total of about $14,000.
She told deputies that Erica Krolak, 21, a home health care nurse from Family Life Care Inc., had visited her home on several occasions until being reassigned. However, almost every week for the last few months, Krolak has visited her on her own time and always for just a few minutes, an arrest report states.
On every visit, Krolak would ask to use the bathroom and always used the bathroom adjacent to the victim's bedroom, which is where she keeps the money in a bank envelope inside a cardboard box inside a canvas bag in the bedroom closet.
Krolak called the woman and said she was going to visit her on Wednesday, but that when she noticed cars in the driveway, she decided not to stop in. Instead, Krolak said she would stop by on Thursday, the report states.
Investigators placed surveillance equipment in the woman's bedroom and on Thursday, Krolak stopped by. After she left, the deputy reviewed the tape and saw Krolak go into the bedroom, walk straight to her closet and pull out the bank bag. She then replaced the bag and left the home, the report states.
Deputies stopped Krolak as she drove away. She denied any involvement with the thefts but when she was told that a surveillance camera had been set up, the report states she admitted she did take money on least two other occasions. Krolak said she only took several hundred dollars at a time.
The report notes that investigators set the bank bag up with $900, but that Krolak did not take any of the money. Krolak told deputies that she intended to take money, but she could not say why she didn't.
Investigators said that the bag typically holds around $4,000 and theorized that $900 was so low that the victim would have noticed the theft too quickly.
Krolak was arrested on charges of attempted grand theft and attempted exploitation of the elderly.