Woman accused of stealing from nursing home resident

October 27, 2009|By MATTHEW UMSTEAD

MARTINSBURG, W.Va. -- A Baltimore County woman is accused of taking nearly $14,000 from a resident of a nursing home in Martinsburg while she was employed there, according to Berkeley County Magistrate Court records.

Cathlynn Angela Zimmerman of Parkville, Md., was in Eastern Regional Jail on a $240,000 bond Tuesday evening. Magistrate Harry L. Snow arraigned Zimmerman on 12 counts of forgery and 12 counts of uttering, records show.

Berkeley County Sheriff's Deputy Adam Boothby alleged in a complaint that Zimmerman, 37, took advantage of a resident at Heartland of Martinsburg by using the woman's checkbook for personal financial purposes.

At least seven checks listed in the victim's checkbook register as payments to the nursing home and for phone, cable and ambulance services actually were written to the defendant for amounts greater than $1,000, according to Boothby's complaint.

Boothby was contacted by the nursing home administrator, Nancy Mason, in September about the checks, which amounted to $13,846.98, according to Boothby's complaint.

Boothby indicated in charging documents that the alleged activity occurred in March 2008 and that Zimmerman's name, along with a Hedgesville, W.Va., address, was listed on some of the financial records that he examined.

The account discrepancies were discovered by a nursing home administrative assistant who was reviewing the resident's account for a separate discrepancy, according to Boothby's complaint.

The victim told Boothby that she would sign checks that Zimmerman would fill out and then supposedly take care of her payments, but she had never given Zimmerman money for personal use and wanted charges to be filed, according to the complaint.

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