Woman Arrested in Theft of $118,000 From Blind Retiree

A woman who cares for about 20 retirees here has been arrested on suspicion of stealing $118,000 from one of them, a blind woman, in what Orange County investigators say is the start of a crackdown on people who prey on the elderly in retirement communities.

Lanna Reynosa, 47, was arrested in her Lake Forest condominium for allegedly stealing the money from 86-year-old Mildred Cobbledick, a retired Los Angeles schoolteacher who suffers from cancer and heart ailments.

Investigators said Reynosa used the money to pay for trips to Hawaii and to make a $30,000 down payment on her condominium. Authorities say Reynosa has been caring for at least 20 retirees, some of them disabled. They are investigating whether she stole money from the others.

In a jailhouse interview Thursday, Reynosa admitted to stealing from Cobbledick and begged for “forgiveness.”

“It was an awful mistake,” Reynosa said. “I hope she forgives me; she has always been a wonderful lady.”

Of Reynosa’s plea, Cobbledick said: “She can have her forgiveness, but I prefer to have my money back. She left me penniless.”

Orange County sheriff’s investigator Cliff Deller called it “the perfect crime of opportunity. . . . In the suspect’s eyes, the victim was ripe for the picking. She took advantage of her trust and ripped her off in a cold and heartless manner.”

The siphoning of funds was uncovered when Reynosa told Cobbledick that her funds were low. Cobbledick said she knew she had a large sum in the bank, and her relatives called authorities when they found money gone.

Cobbledick retired in 1969 after teaching in the Los Angeles Unified School District for 40 years. “I thought I could sit back and enjoy my retirement,” she said. “Now I don’t have anything left except my little pension.”

In the jailhouse interview, Reynosa cried and said she had been convicted twice in the last eight years for stealing from elderly people in Leisure World, a retirement community of 22,000. Reynosa was sentenced to probation for those offenses, law enforcement officials said.

Reynosa insisted that she did not steal from other clients.

Asked why she singled out Cobbledick, Reynosa said she needed money for a new house and the 86-year-old blind woman “was the easiest” target.

“I have 20 clients in (the Leisure World area) and a lot of them are not going to believe when they hear about this side of me,” Reynosa said.

Reynosa was hired a year ago to pay Cobbledick’s bills, Deller said. Reynosa described herself as a housekeeper. Investigators suspect that Reynosa altered the amount on some checks that Cobbledick made out to her. A check written to Reynosa for $30 allegedly was altered and cashed for $30,000, Deller said.

The Sheriff’s Department is investigating five similar cases in which retirees were allegedly swindled by their care-givers, Lt. Richard J. Olson said.