Pueblo shelter manager stole over $15,000 from residents & tried to blame her son, records claim

PUEBLO, Colo. (KRDO) - New court documents obtained by KRDO13 Investigates show that a former senior employee with the Pueblo Rescue Mission allegedly stole thousands of dollars in cash from residents with mental health issues, and tried to blame her son for the theft, while continuously lying about where the missing money was.

On Thursday, the Pueblo Police Department (PPD) announced they had arrested 55-year-old Lorie Arabie after she surrendered to officers. A warrant for her arrest was issued on December 13 for felony theft, following a four-month-long investigation that began in early September.

Pueblo Mayor Heather Graham giving this statement to KRDO13 about the arrest:

"Now that Ms. Arabie turned herself in to Pueblo Police, the rest of the investigation and proceedings of this theft case with the Pueblo Rescue Mission can move forward. The City of Pueblo alongside our partner Safeside Recovery are working diligently to restore a trusted, stable environment at the city’s only permanent homeless shelter.”

Arabie was accused initially of stealing money from residents at the Pueblo Rescue Mission shelter, where she served as a shelter manager. New lengthy court documents detail exactly what PPD uncovered through numerous conversations in their investigation into thousands of dollars that were missing under Arabie's watch.

Documents explain that in September of this year, when the Executive Director of the Pueblo Rescue Mission, Josh Lane, found out that thousands of dollars were being stored within a safe on-site, he and the Treasurer, Carrie VanMeter, went to do an impromptu "audit" of the safe, which was kept in Lori Arabie's office.

When they opened the safe, it was empty. Arabie claimed the money was in another safe, in another senior employees office, but that they were in Denver for the day and would be back by 5:00 p.m.

VanMeter told PPD that when she returned at 5:30 p.m. to check the other office, Arabie admitted she lied and that the money was actually in an ABC Bank account, set up in her name. With concerns over embezzlement, VanMeter stated that Arabie would have to meet her and Lane at the bank first thing in the morning since it was already past 6 p.m.

That next morning, in the parking lot of the bank, documents say that Arabie admitted once again that she had lied, saying there was no bank account, and that her son Channing, who was also a shelter employee, had actually stolen the money and spent it on drugs, which he also sold at the shelter.

In an email sent to the Rescue Mission's Board Vice President, Dana Charles, which was obtained by PPD, Arabie admitted that her son was not the culprit, and she was ashamed to have put the blame on him.

She instead claimed the a resident stole the money from her office when she had stepped away and not locked her door. Arabie said that she tried to rectify the situation by tracking that person down, but claimed they had left the city entirely, and hung up on her over the phone.

The 55-year-old said that she then tried to replace the money using her and her husbands savings, to make it right after her embarrassing slip-up with her office door. However, by the next day, she was confronted with the impromptu audit.

Where did all this money come from, and why was it being kept in a safe in one person's office?

The shelter had a program that would have residents put away 30% of their weekly income, whether that be from some form of employment, social security, or disability, and either into a savings account, or have it be stashed in an envelope with ledgers, inside a safe that was kept in Arabie's office.

Allegedly, according to Executive Director Lane, as well as other senior employees, Arabie was the only person with access to the safe. She took over the duties of the financial savings program in May of 2024 from fellow employee Lynnae Trujillo. As the documents lay out, all of Arabie's suspicious behaviors that were explained to police during the investigation, both by residents and employees, were not present when Trujillo was running the savings program.

Instead, residents claimed that Trujillo was incredibly pleasant to work with, and someone they found helpful with finances and trusted greatly.

Documents allege that 12 different residents were victims of having just over $15,800 dollars in cash stolen from that safe by Arabie. Many of them said that there was no one else who could have done it since Arabie was the only person with access to their money.

Some lost a few hundred, as others lost over 1,000 dollars. Two victims suffered losses as high as $3,500 and just under $5,000, with the latter victim saying they felt that much more money could have been missing from her account as well.

One man described Lori Arabie as the “puppet master,” and said that if you pissed her off, you were "done."

The woman who lost $3,510, called her and Arabie's relationship “scary,” and said that she intimidated her frequently, and claimed that Arabie would say, “Whenever I am here, you’re gonna gimme your money."

That same victim explained that Arabie would "flash" her money, talking about how her husband and son had bought many firearms, and would flash new clothes and shoes, and even bragged about paying off her new brand new car with cash, a claim later corroborated by VanMeter, the Treasurer.

Meanwhile, Trujillo, the shelter's Senior Case Manager/Operations Manager, also claimed that the only residents who gave Arabie their money, were people with severe mental health issues. Trujillo claimed that Arabie wouldn't target people who could advocate for themselves.

Some residents, Trujillo said, still gave Arabie their money to stow away, even though they had a bank account set up for their 30% savings of weekly income, because Arabie would tell them to.

Arabie appeared virtually before a judge in Pueblo on Friday afternoon. She is charged with a Class 5 Felony of Theft. She is next due in court for a First Appearance for that alleged crime on January 6, 2025.