A medical technician working at a senior living center in San Ramon has been accused of stealing more than $5,000 worth of jewelry and other valuables from the elderly people she cares for, according to the San Ramon Police Department.
Beryl Levy, 61, of Mountain House, was arrested Tuesday and booked into the Martinez jail on suspicion of burglary, grand theft and elder abuse, San Ramon police said.
Levy was seen on surveillance footage taking items from the drawers of one resident at Villa San Ramon, police said. The camera had been installed by the resident's son after his father started noticing items disappearing from his room.
"It showed the suspect walking into the residence going into a drawer and removing property from a drawer," said Denton Carlson, of the San Ramon Police Department.
Detectives looked at Levy's finances and found she’d been making large cash deposits at an ATM in Tracy, not far from her house and not far from a pawn shop.
The owner of the Rio Cash For Gold pawn shop told authorities Levy sold him all kinds of jewelry -- rings, necklaces and even coins. He said she seemed to be coming straight from work because she would show up in her uniform.
He said he wasn’t surprised when police showed up.
"It’s awful what someone could do to someone that needed care," said the shop owner, who did not want to give his name.
Police recovered several of the stolen items from the pawn shop and from Levy's home. They said the challenge will be indentifing who owns the jewerly, especially because so many of the elderly residents weren’t even aware they had been robbed.
Investigators are working with the Villa San Ramon management to try to identify any other possible victims.