Caregiver Takes, Doesn’t Give

VENTURA COUNTY – The role of caretaker in our society is one imbued with both public and private trust. By the very nature of the role, when one offers housekeeping and personal maintenance services to those in need, that individual immediately earns both our appreciation and respect. The heartfelt homily “it’s better to give than to receive” calls only a select few into service, but those few are vital to the well-being of a population that is rapidly aging toward dependence upon those with a true calling to help others in need.

Maria Sanchez

That message may have fallen on deaf ears in the case of Maria Sanchez, 40, who was arrested on November 12th upon suspicion of grand theft from those entrusted to her care.

According to Thousand Oaks Police Department spokesman Sgt. Jason Robarts, two months prior to Sanchez’s arrest, an elderly local couple employing her “reported over $8,000 in jewelry missing from their home.” At the time of the report, Sanchez was interviewed by law enforcement, but pleaded ignorance as to the missing property.

But what does one actually do with stolen property, once stolen? Any intelligent person would simply stash the purloined property for an extended period of time or move it out of the jurisdiction. Sanchez may not fall into that “intelligent” category, however, for she was directly implicated in having sold the $8,000 in jewelry to a San Fernando Valley pawn shop just miles away from the scene of the crime. With that lead, further investigation soon had Sanchez associated with a $20,000 theft from another elderly couple for whom she had worked as “caretaker”, following which the stolen property was sold to the same pawn shop.

Pursuant to the product of these investigations and additional evidence, Robarts reported that “Sanchez was arrested on several felony counts of theft” and was summarily booked into Ventura County Jail with an unspecified bail amount.

Photo: Courtesy Ventura County Jail Booking

Read more:

ABC7: Caretaker accused of stealing thousands in jewelry

VCStar: Caretaker arrested in connection with theft