A caregiver has been arrested for allegedly stealing jewelry from a client in Scottsdale.
Scottsdale Police report that they were contacted on February 7 regarding a theft of a $5,000 ring from a retirement home near McDowell and Scottsdale Roads.
The victim told police that her purple Tanzanite ring was taken and she believed more jewelry was also missing.
The victim suspected that the jewelry was taken by her new home caregiver, 26-year-old, Maribel Adame Ortiz. Police contacted Ortiz' employer Urgent Home Care, who cooperated by providing police with her schedule which showed she was at the victim's home on the day the ring went missing.
Police say they checked pawn records and found that Ortiz had pawned several items over the past few weeks. Police retrieved those items which were identified by the victim. The value of all the jewelry taken, police say, was about $9,350.
Ortiz was scheduled to return to the victim’s home on February 14, but this time police were there waiting for her, and she was arrested.
She allegedly admitted to taking the jewelry saying, "she was struggling to make her car payments and needed extra money, so she stole from the victim."
Ortiz has been charged with theft and trafficking in stolen property.
