SEBASTIAN — An elderly Sebastian couple remain hospitalized with serious burns following a mid-day fire Monday in their duplex unit in the 1000 block of Louisiana Avenue.

Karen Baker, 68, and her husband, Jimmy Yates, 75, were taken to a burn treatment facility in Orlando after initially being treated at Health First in Melbourne, officials said.

Barker, who is an invalid on oxygen, had burns on about 45 percent of her body, said her daughter, Debora Wagner.
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The United Way of Martin County Board of Directors approved its annual funding to local agency programs, distributing more than $1.5 million raised during the 2008-09 campaign.

Funding is focused on priority areas addressing the community’s needs such as helping children and youth achieve their potential, providing stability and independence for families and individuals in crisis and increasing access to health care services.

About 70 volunteers on citizen review panels examined applications for United Way support and chose who would received money, United Way Executive Director Jim Vojcsik said.

The 2008-09 United Way of Martin County campaign raised almost $2.1 million. Of the remaining total, $100,000 is set aside for unfulfilled pledges. About 16 percent is used by United Way of Martin County for fund-raising and administrative expenses. The balance will support community research, planning and initiatives such as the Earned Income Tax Credit program and the Shared Services Network mobilization to reduce youth substance abuse. (more…)

Gladys Gurski Gehrig

Ms. Gehrig is a white female, 5 feet 4 inches tall weighing 160 pounds with brown, medium-length curly hair, gray eyes and wearing glasses. She was last seen wearing a purple blouse and black pants with unknown type of shoes.

Her son, Robert D. Gehrig, said his mother went to the Wachovia Bank, 2597 South U.S.1, Fort Pierce, at 2 p.m. and has not returned.

She called her caretaker at 3:30 p.m. and said she was lost. The caretaker gave her directions on how to return to her Sunset Boulevard, Fort Pierce, home.

Anyone with information is asked to call 9-1-1 in St. Lucie County.

“Finders keepers” seems to be the motto of a retiree facing a petit theft charge after she found a wallet and mailed it back to its owner - but kept the money that was in it.

According to documents released by the Martin County Sheriff’s Office, the wallet’s owner dropped his wallet on the floor at Publix in the 1700 block of Northeast Jensen Beach Boulevard on April 19.

Security video shows the 76-year-old woman covering the wallet with her cart and then picking it up once the victim left the area, according to the documents.
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JENSEN BEACH — Detectives arrested a woman accused of attacking and robbing an elderly woman outside a Jensen Beach restaurant Saturday afternoon, according to documents released Monday.

Kristen Beth Swift, 23, of the 2300 block of Northeast Indian River Drive, has been charged with robbery by sudden snatching and battery on a person over 65 years of age.

The incident took place in the 3400 block of Northwest U.S. 1 at 2:40 p.m., just after the 82-year-old woman had parked her car in a handicap space at Olive Garden. Swift pulled up behind the woman’s car and asked her for directions to Indian River Drive, the affidavit says.
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JENSEN BEACH — An 80-year-old woman discovered she was the victim of a scam, after bank employees called deputies because of the frequent number of times she withdrew large amounts of cash, according to a Martin County Sheriff’s Office report.

The manager of the National City Bank in Jensen Beach contacted deputies Tuesday after an elderly female customer had been withdrawing large amounts of cash and said she was sending it to friends and family, according to the report.

After the bank manager contacted the woman’s daughter in Ohio and found out her customer wasn’t sending money to family, she called deputies while the woman was at the bank trying to withdraw $1,000, according to the report.

The elderly woman told deputies she won a large sweepstakes from a publisher’s clearinghouse and was contacted by phone to wire money several times to Las Vegas. She was told she was going to receive a check for $625,000 on Tuesday, according to the report.

The woman made a total of eight transactions totaling $22,172, which she sent via Western Union transfers, according to the report.

While at the bank talking to deputies, one of the suspects called her phone. When the woman told the person she was at the bank talking to law enforcement, the person hung up, according to the report.

Deputies are investigating the incident.

By Monique Mattiace, TCPalm.com

Brandon Murray

Brandon L. Murray, 18, was arrested by police after a resident in the 1700 block of Southeast Aires Lane reported seeing a man climbing out a bedroom window Wednesday afternoon.

Police used a description of the burglar to search for the man, which was later identified as Murray.

Murray told police he broke into the Aires house and also another home in the 100 block of Southwest Parish Terrace while the homeowner, an 86-year-old woman, was outside.

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A former Walgreens pharmacy technician has been arrested after police say she befriended an elderly woman and then stole credit cards and prescription drugs from her.
St. Lucie County Sheriff’s officials have charged Melissa Dewey of Bella Vista Way in Port St. Lucie with multiple crimes including grand theft from the elderly, trafficking in oxycondone and fraudulent use of ID and credit card.
They say Dewey first ingratiated herself to Dianne Birnbaum about six months ago when Birnbaum called her Walgreens pharmacy requesting if the drug store made home deliveries.

Birnbaum told investigators Dewey, a pharmacy technician, answered the phone, told Birnbaum that Walgrees does not make deliveries, but offered to drop off Birnbaum’s Xanax prescription on her way home. (more…)

STUART — A 75-year-old man helped police nab the six-foot-one, 230-lbs. thief who allegedly stole his laptop outside Best Buy on Sunday.

The man was outside the electronics store on U.S. 1 at about 12:15 p.m. with his laptop and printer, waiting for his wife to pick him up at the curb, Stuart police said. (more…)

JENSEN BEACH — A 96-year-old woman walked into her home Monday night and was surprised by a burglar who threatened to kill her, according to the Martin County Sheriff’s Office.

Now she’s worried about staying in her home in the Pinecrest Lakes Mobile Home Park, where she has lived for more than 30 years, she told TCPalm.com.

“All the cops said he won’t come back,” the victim said. “He got what he wanted the first time, but he realizes you can’t have that much money and he won’t come back. But it makes me nervous just the same.”

According to the report, the victim had been at a bridge game and returned to her home in the 100 block of Northeast North Warner Drive around 9 p.m. When she unlocked the door and walked into the kitchen, a man came up behind her and put his hand over her mouth. The man told the victim he would kill her if she said anything and demanded she give him all her cash, according to the report. She gave him around $650 from her bedroom before the man ran out the front door.

Investigators looked through the home and discovered a broken pane of glass from one of the doors and a screen removed from the front door. According to the report, the man had moved several items around in the closet of the master bedroom.

The victim could not give a detailed description of the man because he remained behind her as he ordered her through the house.

TcPalm.com staff