Someone is going around stealing blank checks from elderly victims in at least two care facilities in Voorhees and police have reason to believe there may be more victims out there.
In this exclusive report, police are asking for your help in identifying one of the culprits.
"Three of our victims are elderly, one's 97-years-old; they're all in some diminished capacity," Detective Dennis Ober of the Vorhees Police said.
Voorhees police say that in the last two months, someone has been stealing blank checks from unsuspecting elderly victims living at the ManorCare Health Services facility on Dumont Circle and the Lions Gate facility on Laurel Oak Road. So far, at least 5 victims have been targeted including one dependent on a wheel chair.
"Just kind of makes it outrageous that somebody would actually steal from a 97-year-old woman," Detective Ober said.
Police say, in all, the culprit or culprits have made off with $7,000 from the victims' bank accounts.
In neighboring Stratford, police say a man using the name 'Nathaniel Brooks' was caught by surveillance cameras trying to cash one of the forged checks at a TD Bank branch, but the teller caught on to him. He ran off before police could arrive. Interestingly, police say none of the victims or administrators of the two facilities have ever seen this man before.
"We don't know if he has a connection to somebody else inside the facility that may be working there or may be working in cooperation with somebody else there," Detective Bob Monahan of the Vorhees Police said.
Unfortunately, law enforcement officials say preying on the elderly is an age-old problem that seems to be getting worse. They are noting an uptick in these kinds of crimes against the elderly across the country and in Voorhees. Because the culprits do not necessarily steal the first check in the book, police think there may be other victims that still haven't noticed they may be missing a check and may have been robbed:
"They don't realize it because they don't use their checkbooks very often, so they don't realize it until it's too late," Detective Monahan said.
Not only do police want to hear from other potential victims, they're asking that you take another look at the man in the video above to see if you know his identity and whereabouts.
If you have any information that you think may be helpful to police, you are asked to call the Voorhees Police tipline at 856-627-7174 or e-mail them at policetipline@vtpd. You can remain anonymous.
