A man broke into a Westwood senior living apartment, stealing $200,000 worth of jewels and designer handbags from an elderly woman. The I-Team’s Joel Grover reports for the NBC4 News at 6 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 14, 2024.
When 95-year-old Diane Morton returned to her apartment one recent afternoon at the Watermark in Westwood, she noticed someone had gone through her drawers, stealing her diamond earrings and bracelets, pearls, an expensive watch and designer handbags.
“I felt violated. I felt raped,” Morton told the I-Team. “These were gifts from my late husband, and they had sentimental value.”
Morton said the thief got away with $200,000 of her belongings, and there was no sign of forced entry into her apartment.
“It had to be an inside job. Someone had to have given him a key or let him into my apartment,” Morton said.
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Surveillance video from the time of the burglary, obtained by the I-Team, shows a masked man with a backpack getting off the elevator, at the time Morton was getting in to go to lunch.
When other residents spotted the suspicious man and reported him to building management, he claimed to be an air conditioning repairman. They told him to leave.
The burglary in Morton’s apartment was the fourth theft reported to the LAPD in less than two years at the Watermark, a senior living apartment in Westwood.
“This kind of crime is so common, and it is often the staff,” said Maura Gibney of California Advocates for Nursing Home Reform (CANHR), an advocacy group for seniors.
That was the case at Leisure Vale Assisted Living in Glendale, where police arrested a 28-year-old employee, Jesus Leyva, in October and charged him with stealing and then using credit cards from the rooms of seven residents.
Levya, who pleaded not guilty to seven counts of theft from the elderly, is out on bail.
His alleged crime targeting residents of the assisted living complex is a familiar story to advocates for the elderly.
“An older adult is not only going to be an easy target, but they may have things that are worth money,” said CANHR’s Maura Gibney.
Some senior buildings like the Watermark in Westwood boast about tight security, like requiring visitors to check in at the front, 24-hour security guards and an a gated garage where visitors have to be buzzed in.
But on two occasions, the I-Team had no problem entering the building without being stopped or questioned, going up the elevator and walking up and down the floors.
“I think the security at the Watermark is totally inadequate,” said victim Diane Morton. “They’ve got to tighten the security."
The I-Team asked the Watermark to answer questions about apparent gaps in security and about the burglary at Morton’s apartment.
A company spokesperson declined, and in an email said, “The safety and well-being of our residents is paramount to everything we do and we take all safety concerns seriously … While we cannot comment on an ongoing investigation, we are committed to high standards in our operations.”
Diane Morton said the building has told her nothing about their investigation into the burglary, and she’s now considering legal action.
