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Florida woman accused of assaulting elderly employer
A woman is facing felony charges after detectives said she allegedly assaulted an elderly woman who refused to pay her a $500 Christmas bonus.
BREVARD COUNTY, Fla. - A woman is facing felony charges after detectives said she allegedly assaulted an elderly woman who refused to pay her a $500 Christmas bonus.
Heather Nelson, 29, is now facing more than half a dozen charges, including robbery, aggravated battery, forgery, fraud, and grand theft, according to the Brevard County Clerk of the Court.
"She deserves where at right now, and that’s in jail," said Tod Goodyear, public information officer of the Brevard County Sheriff’s Office (BCSO).
Goodyear said on Christmas Eve, Nelson physically assaulted the 83-year-old woman, leaving her with a swollen wrist, after her demands for a hefty Christmas bonus were denied. According to Goodyear, Nelson then snatched the woman’s checkbook from her hand.
"She actually took the check by force, [she] took some Christmas cards that had money in them, took some debit and credit cards, left the residence, forged some signatures and attempted to take quite a bit of money from this woman," said Goodyear.
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Nelson was the elderly woman’s house cleaner and was a trusted employee, said Goodyear.
"The elderly are scammed, they are taken advantage of by other people a lot of times because they have some diminished capacity, or they’re very trusting," Goodyear said. "They grew up in a time when people trusted each other."
According to Goodyear, Nelson made the check out for $1,400. She also used the woman’s credit card to pay her rent and bought a number of other things.
"Based on what she was using the monies for, she was in financial trouble," Goodyear said. "Maybe she just saw this as the only way possibly out of it, but to take advantage of our elderly seniors is not what you do."
Nelson was arrested on January 7, almost two weeks after the assault. According to Goodyear, the reason for the delay was because deputies had to follow the money trail and wait for the check to clear and the charges to post.
Updated documents from the clerk of court show Nelson remains in jail without bond.
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The Source: This story was written based on information taken from the Brevard County Clerk of the Court and the Brevard County Sheriff’s Office.