CORAL GABLES, Fla. – A building engineer who worked at a senior living facility in Coral Gables was arrested Tuesday on accusations that he had been stealing cash and credit card information from some of the residents who live there.
Jerimah Jones, 33, of Homestead, has since been fired from the Belmont Village senior living facility, located at 4111 Salzedo St., an arrest report stated.
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According to the report, Jones was fired due to “suspicious activity” and “not showing up to work on time.”
Coral Gables police said staff members had access to key fobs to enter apartments to perform maintenance when a work order was issued, but Jones was suspected of using the key fobs to steal money from some of the residents.
“A check of the building key fob logs shows the suspect’s key fob opening apartment doors around the time the items went missing,” the arrest report states.
Police said Jones’ company-issued cellphone was returned to management when he was fired and the senior vice president of information technology for the facility discovered various “identity document images of the victims.”
The documents included images of checks, credit card information, driver’s licenses and even a Costco Wholesale membership card, the report stated.
All of the victims affected are older than 65, authorities said.
According to the report, one victim told police that about $650 in cash was stolen from her bedroom drawer sometime in January.
Police said the key fob logs and cellphone records show that Jones took photos of the victims’ personal documents minutes after entering their apartment units.
According to the report, Jones was arrested Tuesday and transported to the Coral Gables Police Department for questioning.
Jones denied stealing any cash and claimed that he found all the documents in a trash container on the first floor of the senior living facility, authorities said.
Police said he provided an admission after he was confronted with the key fob log and picture time stamps, but his exact statement was redacted from the publicly released report.
According to the report, Jones faces 17 counts of possession/fraudulent use of personal identification, six counts of exploitation of an elderly/disabled person and one count of petit theft.
As of Wednesday morning, he remained at the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center where his bond had yet to be set.