A caregiver has been charged with going on a spending spree with the debit card of a dementia patient in The Villages.
Sandra Jean Yeager, 54, had been caring for a dementia patient living at a home in the Village of Citrus Grove. The man’s son told police his father’s condition has deteriorated to the point he cannot operate a television remote and can no longer operate his smart phone, according to an arrest report from the Wildwood Police Department.
Beginning in October and continuing through the end of December, Yeager went on a spending spree with the man’s debit card. She rang up $3,486 in purchases at Walmarts in The Villages and Ocala, the Fruitland Smoke Shop and Wild City Smoke in Wildwood. It appears she was also using his debit card to pay her phone bill.
When interviewed by police, Yeager admitted she had used the man’s debit card “without prior approval.” However, she claimed she’d only purchased “a few items.”
She was arrested on felony charges of theft and exploitation of the elderly. She was booked at the Sumter County Detention Center and released after posting $2,500 bond.