Home Health Aide Stole From Elderly South Brunswick Woman, Police Say

South Brunswick, NJ - A home health aide from Somerset has been charged with stealing from an elderly South Brunswick woman who has dementia, police said Tuesday.

Relatives of the elderly Dayton woman contacted South Brunswick police to report suspicious activity on her credit card. The relatives also noted that a Galaxy tablet was missing from the victim’s home. The woman suffers several medical issues, including dementia, and the family told police they were suspicious it might be her aide, police said.

The aide was hired through an agency and worked three hours a day.

Detective Dennis Yuhasz began an investigation and reviewed the victim’s financial records. The records showed that between August 8 and August 25, the victim’s credit card had been used for cash withdrawals twelve times. The money had been taken from various locations in Irvington and Union Township.

In the six months prior to the aide being hired, there were no cash withdrawals using that credit card, police said. In total, more than $1,000 had been stolen from the victim during the month of August, police said.

On Monday evening, the aide, Caitlyn Burton, 21, surrendered at police headquarters. She was charged with theft, theft of a credit card, and fraudulent use of a credit card. Police recovered the Galaxy tablet. Burton was processed and issued a complaint pending her first court appearance.

Photo of Caitlyn Burton provided by South Brunswick Police