HOLLYWOOD, FLA. (WSVN) - Hollywood Police have arrested a woman accused of stealing a family heirloom from a Holocaust survivor’s home.
Latoya Coley was arrested Wednesday for her alleged involvement in the theft of 87-year-old Bernard Tittmann’s ring last week.
“This person is someone that we’ve wanted off the streets,” said Hollywood Police Officer Christian Lata. “I’m extremely happy, the department is extremely happy to get this lady off the street.”
Tittmann told 7News that the suspect was his cleaning lady and that Coley pocketed the ring while she was working.
“I was very angry, very angry someone took advantage of me,” said Tittmann.
He said the crime was especially tough as the ring was given to him by his father before he died.
“It was ’90 or ’91 when he bought it, and he died in ’92, so it was like a memento of my dad,” Tittmann said.
Police were able to track down the ring at a pawnshop.
Officials believe Coley has done this before and that her apparent target is the elderly.
“She was going around,” said Lata. “She’s victimizing people that unfortunately can’t take care of themselves, going to their houses, cleaning their houses, and while she was doing it, she’s stealing their property then going to pawnshops and pawning the property.”
Coley is being held on a $11,000 bond.
“Makes me feel good. She deserves to be behind bars,” said Tittmann.
As police work to track down more victims, Tittmann said this was the last time he’ll let someone invade his personal space.
“I keep things in a safe and I’m not laying around things,” he said. “I watch what comes in my house, what goes out of my house. It’s a different world out there today.”
If you believe you may have been targeted by Coley, call Broward County Crime Stoppers at 954-493-TIPS.
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