Police: Crook cleans out senior

For the second time in a week, police have charged a cleaning person with stealing jewelry from a Hershey's Mill resident - cases that are unrelated, police said.

Westtown-East Goshen Regional Police said an 83-year-old resident called police on Sept. 17 to report the theft of jewelry from her home, specifically a gold ring and gold bracelet valued at $2,000. Police said no signs of forced entry existed, and the only person who had access to the residence was a cleaning woman the resident had been using for about four years, an employee who had recently been joined by a male assistant.

On Sept. 29, detectives were watching when the two cleaners arrived to the Chandler Drive residence in East Goshen Township. During this surveillance operation, detectives determined that the male cleaner took jewelry from the dresser and concealed it on his person. When the man exited the residence, detectives approached him and recovered four pieces of gold jewelry, police said.  Nijah Curtis, 34, of Philadelphia, was charged with two counts of theft by unlawful taking and two counts of receiving stolen property; detectives determined that he was also responsible for fthe Sept. 17 theft. Detectives do not believe that the cleaning woman had any knowledge of the crimes, police said.

Curtis was arraigned before Magisterial District Judge Chester F. Darlington, who set bail at $5,000 unsecured; however, Curtis  was turned over to Delaware County constables for an outstanding criminal warrant from the East Lansdowne Police Department.

Westtown-East Goshen Det. William Cahill said investigators found no connection between this case and an earlier one, except that both defendants had access to elderly victims' homes as cleaners. On Sept. 23, Melissa Ann Lash, 31, of Aston, was charged with stealing from an 88-year-old Hershey's Mill resident.