Plumber Arrested For Stealing From Elderly
A man is arrested for stealing jewelry and prescription drugs from the elderly. The victims trusted him and willingly let him into their homes.
Jared Miller, 20, was arrested Saturday and charged with crimes against at risk adults and false information to a pawnbroker.
According to police, the crimes were committed while he was inside homes working as a plumber.
Police were tipped off when an elderly woman reported some jewelry missing earlier this month.
?She?s by herself,? said neighbor Lyle Ladefoged. ?She’s a widow. I think her husband died several years ago. She?s probably in her seventies.?
?If I ever had anybody come here that I didn’t have any idea who they were before, I probably wouldn’t hire them to begin with,? said Ladefoged.
?They were actually able to do an arrest warrant for this gentleman and they found additional jewelry and prescriptions belonging to the senior citizens,? said Sgt. Roger Vargason, with the Colorado Springs Police Department. ?That’s how they were able to connect up the suspect.?
?There were a couple thousands of dollars of jewelry taken, along with prescription drugs,? said Vargason.
?There probably are additional cases,? Vargason stated. ?But, right now we can only verify two.?
Vargason offered some advice for those who hire people to do work on their homes.
?Never leave them in their house alone,? said Vargason. ?They shouldn’t allow the people to wander through their house. They should watch them very closely.?
?You have to trust but verify,? said Vargason. ?It?s easier to verify up front than it is to wait until something like this happens.?
According to Vargason, not all of the missing jewelry has been recovered.
?That?s going to take some work on our part, because we are going to have to have an investigator go out, look at pawn records, and see if he?s pawned it, or sold it. It?s going to be extensive on our end to try to get the case solidified for prosecution.?
The name of the company Miller worked for has not been released.
