Home nurse aide used client’s credit card to withdraw cash, police say

SOUTH BRUNSWICK — A home nurse aide was charged with stealing cash from an elderly patient and illegally using her credit card.

Police said Caitlyn Burton, 21, of the Somerset section of Franklin, used the woman's credit card to withdraw more than $1,000 in cash 12 times in August from various locations in Irvington and Union County, police said.

Out-of-state relatives of the woman, who has been diagnosed with several medical issues including dementia, are being credited for keeping track of her expenses and contacting police after they noticed suspicious activity.

"Investigators pieced the documents together and charged the aide. Our senior citizens are valued members of our community and we will do all we can to ensure their safety," Chief Raymond Hayducka said.

Investigators discovered that the account which had no activity on it in the past six months.

Burton worked in the woman's home in Dayton three hours a day was charged with theft and fraudulent use of a credit card. Police also recovered a Samsung Galaxy tablet that the family had also reported stolen.

Last month, in an unrelated case that also involved elderly victims, a bank teller was charged with scamming $600,000 from customers' dormant accounts.

Contact reporter Dan Alexander at Dan.Alexander@townsquaremedia.com