'Tis the season for… taking? (January 1, 2009)
This year's holiday season seemed to have a theme… and I'm not making reference to the Miami theme of our annual Christmas party. We watched Home Alone while trimming the tree, Catch Me If You Can with the parents Christmas night and sat through Valkyrie at the theatre the day after Christmas. The first two are obvious depictions of theft and the third had more to do with lies and deception within the Nazi party. I can't say that Tom Cruise's performance moved me one way or the other, but the first two DVD Christmas classics typically always give me the warm fuzzies despite the breaking & entering and check fraud. What caused the exact opposite of a case of holiday cheer was the real life criminal activity that I encountered on the Monday prior to Christ's birthday.
My first mistake was hiring a part time nanny to care for Jackson via an ad on Craigslist. Even though I met her back in October, found her to be sweet, cheerful and wonderful with children… and even though I had my previous employer run a background check on her before finding out I was laid off from work… it was still a very bad choice. Anyway, I had to postpone hiring her until my first day at my present job on December 8th. With Old Man Winter causing work to be slow for Jason, we only needed her for about 7 hours, two days a week. Things seemed to be going well. She showed up at the house early so that Jason could leave the baby in her care while he got ready and left for work and then waited for me to get home to give me updates of how many times Jackson ate, got a diaper change and slept. She lived less than 2 minutes away in an apartment with her 4 year old son and boyfriend. Given the fact that she could walk to our house and only needed part time cash to supplement what her boyfriend brought home (or so she said), it seemed like the perfect situation. Since our first meeting in October, she apparently found out she was pregnant again. Knowing financial struggle all to well, the new mother in me wanted to reach out and help her family. In addition to paying her $50 a week for her services, I gave her a ton of unused diapers and clothing that Jackson had grown out of. I talked to Jason about giving them a gift card for Christmas. By the end of the second week, something didn't feel right. Suddenly, the boyfriend was stopping by to eat lunch with her on our couch while Jackson was left alone in his crib. She started bringing her 4 year old with her. She was rushing out to leave before I'd barely gotten through the door at 5:15. I'd noticed that a white gold necklace with a tanzanite stone was not in my jewelry box. I'd worn it recently and thought that perhaps I'd taken it off somewhere due to the baby latching onto anything he could get his hands on… or maybe he'd grabbed the chain, breaking it and I'd find it on the rug one day while cleaning. I didn't think much of it at first. Then, I was getting ready for work the Monday before Christmas and opened my jewelry box with the intention of wearing my opal Kabana necklace when I realized that was missing as well. Frantically, I took inventory. Four necklaces (with their respective pendants) and a ring were gone. Each piece had diamonds, all were gifts from my mother and none of it was cheap. My heart sunk. I did not want to believe that someone I trusted, someone I wanted to help… may have stolen from me. I went to work and decided not to alert Jason right away. This was the first day of the nanny's third week. We didn't have anyone else to watch the baby and I didn't want Jason to worry and stay home, skipping some of his client's landscaping because of it. Jason needed to go to work. We needed the money. Plus, I wanted to talk to this woman myself. Shortly before lunch time I received a text message from Jason asking if I'd taken all of the cash out of his wallet. Crap. This was the nail in the coffin. It had to be the nanny. Reluctantly, I texted him back about the jewelry and told him that I'd confront her that night. Then I called the police department and scheduled a visit from an officer around the time I'd be arriving home from the office.
After a sickening day of planning my speech and being upset over what I'd have to do, I pulled into the driveway and opened my front door. I put a halt to the routine baby update from the nanny and said that I needed to ask her about something. She said if it was about watching Jackson after her own baby was born, then she hoped we would let her. Instead I told her that there was no easy way to bring up the subject, so I simply advised that some jewelry was missing out of my jewelry box. She acted shocked. She asked how that ever could have happened. I asked her if she'd let anyone in the house while we weren't home or if she'd left the house unlocked for any amount of time in which someone we didn't know could have entered. Her answer was no. I then let her know that an officer would be stopping by to take statements from both of us since she was in the house when this most likely happened… and within 30 seconds of the words coming out of my mouth, a policeman walked through the door, followed by Jason. The officer was polite to everyone, sensed that I was uncomfortable and took over the situation. He advised the nanny that she could not leave until he'd gotten everyone's statements despite her excuses, pleas and emotional outbursts. After questioning me privately, he returned his attention to the nanny, letting her know she was a suspect and reading her the Miranda Rights. As he questioned Jason about the money missing from his wallet, the nanny tried to talk to me. She said she couldn't believe that we thought it was her. She began to cry and say she was having contractions. Suddenly, she claimed her son needed his medication and she called her mother to pick her up. Then she asked for her pay for the day. I explained that the cash Jason was going to pay her with was missing from his wallet. She said she couldn't believe that we weren't going to pay her and that we were horrible for depriving her of much needed money. She told us she'd be by the next day to collect her $25. On her way out of the door, she tearfully exclaimed that she couldn't believe what we were accusing her of and once her name was cleared, she wanted an apology from me. Jason did not allow her to say goodbye to Jackson. Then the officer explained what would happen next regarding my case being assigned to a detective and eventually getting a call from someone once information was obtained. He also advised us that we didn't have to pay her the $25.
Much to my surprise, the officer was on my doorstep the next evening with photos from a surveillance camera at a local pawn shop revealing the nanny pawing my jewelry and actual photos of all of my missing jewelry. For over $2,000 worth of my white gold, the pawn shop gave her $200. They had her name, driver's license and fingerprint on file along with a log sheet of all the jewelry she'd been pawning since early October. The day she pawned my jewelry was December 8th… her first day on the job! She had the audacity to return to our house four more times and lie to our faces. I was astounded. I then informed the officer that something else was missing, but I hadn't noticed at first because this item was not in my jewelry box. Instead, the brand new wedding band (that I'd never worn) was in its ring box with price tags still attached was hidden behind my make up on a shelf in the master bathroom. The ring and its box were gone. We reviewed the pawn shop log and it was not among the items pawned. There were two different wedding rings on the list in October, but she hadn't been in my house at that time. I had little hope of getting my ring back, but I gave the officer a photo of it anyway. He promised to look for it. Then he explained that in order to get my other jewelry back from the pawn shop, I'd have to pay the $200 that they gave to the nanny so they wouldn't loose out on the money. Once she goes to court for the charges of grand theft and dealing in stolen goods, the judge will order her to pay me back. In addition to never seeing my wedding band again, I didn't harbor much hope for restitution, either. At least the rest of my jewelry was found and it was on hold by the police department… so there were no worries about it being sold to someone else while I saved up the dough.
Christmas and our selection of themed holiday movies came and went… and then the same police officer knocked on my door the night after. As he stepped through the threshold, he held out a ring and asked if it was mine. With a smile, I asked how he found it. He said that he just came from her apartment and she'd been wearing it when she answered the door! She told him that it was her engagement ring, which had been a gift from her boyfriend for Christmas. When asked to produce a receipt and informed that I'd given the officer photos and paperwork on a missing ring that looked a lot like the one on ring finger, she handed it to him and said, "Just take this and tell her it's hers." Of course, she was then presented with all of the evidence against her which caused her to break down and write a confession. As the officer was writing up another form to add my lost and found wedding band to the case information, he handed me her confession and remarked that I'd probably get a kick out of it. She wrote that she'd "borrowed" the jewelry to pawn to pay her rent and had intended on getting it back from the pawn shop once she had the money. She stated that she "didn't have the heart to pawn the wedding ring" and planned to return it with the rest of the jewelry. Nowhere did her confession state that she was sorry for stealing, but she did end by saying that she was sorry she was not able to return the jewelry to my jewelry box before I noticed it was missing. I scoffed at the page full of lies. The officer informed me that she did not put the jewelry on hold, but actually sold it and told the pawn shop employee that she'd just broken up with her boyfriend and was getting rid of everything he'd given to her. Then there's the fact that she couldn't have had intended to return my wedding ring because she got rid of the box, removed the tag and was wearing it as her own. Part of me wants to get rid of the tainted ring… but now that the tags are gone and it's become used instead of brand new, I wouldn't be able to sell if for what it's worth. Hopefully one day when I do wear that ring, I'll look down at it and think of what a funny story it has rather then remember the fact that a liar who broke my trust wore it on her thieving finger for two weeks.
All in all, justice will be served. Being a mother of two young children, I assume the judge will give her probation or community service instead of throwing her in jail. If I'm lucky, I might see my $200 back someday. Maybe whomever she was stealing from in October and November will be reunited with their missing jewelry, too. Who knows? All I can say is that I don't feel victimized or hurt… but I am disappointed that I was taken advantage of and lied to by someone I trusted with my son's life. I thought I was a good judge of character, but perhaps my desire to help someone in need skewed my intuition. I almost regret giving her Jackson's things… just thinking about how she thanked me and acted like everything was fine is infuriating… but it's not her baby's fault. Speaking of, I left out the part about how the night of the initial accusations put her under so much stress that she went into labor that night and had the baby early. It was a boy. He'll have free diapers and plenty of clothes for the first month… and a mother with Grand Larson on her record forever. On a final note, this morning she called me again and left me a voicemail, but this time it wasn't about the $25 I owe her. This time it was to cry about how sorry she was for "the most stupid mistake of her life" and about how fearful she is of loosing her kids. She's not sorry for what she did. She's just sorry she got caught.
When I tell Jackson about his first Christmas, I may leave out some details. Instead, I'll share with him how we were surrounded by the love of friends and family and show him pictures of the toys and clothes he received… but more importantly, emphasize how lucky we were to have a happy, healthy baby safe within our arms. With this chapter of life now closed…. I say farewell to an eventful and turbulent 2008 filled with ups and down… and welcome brighter, more hopeful days to come in 2009. (Oh, and along with those brighter days, a new nanny with proper credentials who cares for children in her own home.)
My first mistake was hiring a part time nanny to care for Jackson via an ad on Craigslist. Even though I met her back in October, found her to be sweet, cheerful and wonderful with children… and even though I had my previous employer run a background check on her before finding out I was laid off from work… it was still a very bad choice. Anyway, I had to postpone hiring her until my first day at my present job on December 8th. With Old Man Winter causing work to be slow for Jason, we only needed her for about 7 hours, two days a week. Things seemed to be going well. She showed up at the house early so that Jason could leave the baby in her care while he got ready and left for work and then waited for me to get home to give me updates of how many times Jackson ate, got a diaper change and slept. She lived less than 2 minutes away in an apartment with her 4 year old son and boyfriend. Given the fact that she could walk to our house and only needed part time cash to supplement what her boyfriend brought home (or so she said), it seemed like the perfect situation. Since our first meeting in October, she apparently found out she was pregnant again. Knowing financial struggle all to well, the new mother in me wanted to reach out and help her family. In addition to paying her $50 a week for her services, I gave her a ton of unused diapers and clothing that Jackson had grown out of. I talked to Jason about giving them a gift card for Christmas. By the end of the second week, something didn't feel right. Suddenly, the boyfriend was stopping by to eat lunch with her on our couch while Jackson was left alone in his crib. She started bringing her 4 year old with her. She was rushing out to leave before I'd barely gotten through the door at 5:15. I'd noticed that a white gold necklace with a tanzanite stone was not in my jewelry box. I'd worn it recently and thought that perhaps I'd taken it off somewhere due to the baby latching onto anything he could get his hands on… or maybe he'd grabbed the chain, breaking it and I'd find it on the rug one day while cleaning. I didn't think much of it at first. Then, I was getting ready for work the Monday before Christmas and opened my jewelry box with the intention of wearing my opal Kabana necklace when I realized that was missing as well. Frantically, I took inventory. Four necklaces (with their respective pendants) and a ring were gone. Each piece had diamonds, all were gifts from my mother and none of it was cheap. My heart sunk. I did not want to believe that someone I trusted, someone I wanted to help… may have stolen from me. I went to work and decided not to alert Jason right away. This was the first day of the nanny's third week. We didn't have anyone else to watch the baby and I didn't want Jason to worry and stay home, skipping some of his client's landscaping because of it. Jason needed to go to work. We needed the money. Plus, I wanted to talk to this woman myself. Shortly before lunch time I received a text message from Jason asking if I'd taken all of the cash out of his wallet. Crap. This was the nail in the coffin. It had to be the nanny. Reluctantly, I texted him back about the jewelry and told him that I'd confront her that night. Then I called the police department and scheduled a visit from an officer around the time I'd be arriving home from the office.
After a sickening day of planning my speech and being upset over what I'd have to do, I pulled into the driveway and opened my front door. I put a halt to the routine baby update from the nanny and said that I needed to ask her about something. She said if it was about watching Jackson after her own baby was born, then she hoped we would let her. Instead I told her that there was no easy way to bring up the subject, so I simply advised that some jewelry was missing out of my jewelry box. She acted shocked. She asked how that ever could have happened. I asked her if she'd let anyone in the house while we weren't home or if she'd left the house unlocked for any amount of time in which someone we didn't know could have entered. Her answer was no. I then let her know that an officer would be stopping by to take statements from both of us since she was in the house when this most likely happened… and within 30 seconds of the words coming out of my mouth, a policeman walked through the door, followed by Jason. The officer was polite to everyone, sensed that I was uncomfortable and took over the situation. He advised the nanny that she could not leave until he'd gotten everyone's statements despite her excuses, pleas and emotional outbursts. After questioning me privately, he returned his attention to the nanny, letting her know she was a suspect and reading her the Miranda Rights. As he questioned Jason about the money missing from his wallet, the nanny tried to talk to me. She said she couldn't believe that we thought it was her. She began to cry and say she was having contractions. Suddenly, she claimed her son needed his medication and she called her mother to pick her up. Then she asked for her pay for the day. I explained that the cash Jason was going to pay her with was missing from his wallet. She said she couldn't believe that we weren't going to pay her and that we were horrible for depriving her of much needed money. She told us she'd be by the next day to collect her $25. On her way out of the door, she tearfully exclaimed that she couldn't believe what we were accusing her of and once her name was cleared, she wanted an apology from me. Jason did not allow her to say goodbye to Jackson. Then the officer explained what would happen next regarding my case being assigned to a detective and eventually getting a call from someone once information was obtained. He also advised us that we didn't have to pay her the $25.
Much to my surprise, the officer was on my doorstep the next evening with photos from a surveillance camera at a local pawn shop revealing the nanny pawing my jewelry and actual photos of all of my missing jewelry. For over $2,000 worth of my white gold, the pawn shop gave her $200. They had her name, driver's license and fingerprint on file along with a log sheet of all the jewelry she'd been pawning since early October. The day she pawned my jewelry was December 8th… her first day on the job! She had the audacity to return to our house four more times and lie to our faces. I was astounded. I then informed the officer that something else was missing, but I hadn't noticed at first because this item was not in my jewelry box. Instead, the brand new wedding band (that I'd never worn) was in its ring box with price tags still attached was hidden behind my make up on a shelf in the master bathroom. The ring and its box were gone. We reviewed the pawn shop log and it was not among the items pawned. There were two different wedding rings on the list in October, but she hadn't been in my house at that time. I had little hope of getting my ring back, but I gave the officer a photo of it anyway. He promised to look for it. Then he explained that in order to get my other jewelry back from the pawn shop, I'd have to pay the $200 that they gave to the nanny so they wouldn't loose out on the money. Once she goes to court for the charges of grand theft and dealing in stolen goods, the judge will order her to pay me back. In addition to never seeing my wedding band again, I didn't harbor much hope for restitution, either. At least the rest of my jewelry was found and it was on hold by the police department… so there were no worries about it being sold to someone else while I saved up the dough.
Christmas and our selection of themed holiday movies came and went… and then the same police officer knocked on my door the night after. As he stepped through the threshold, he held out a ring and asked if it was mine. With a smile, I asked how he found it. He said that he just came from her apartment and she'd been wearing it when she answered the door! She told him that it was her engagement ring, which had been a gift from her boyfriend for Christmas. When asked to produce a receipt and informed that I'd given the officer photos and paperwork on a missing ring that looked a lot like the one on ring finger, she handed it to him and said, "Just take this and tell her it's hers." Of course, she was then presented with all of the evidence against her which caused her to break down and write a confession. As the officer was writing up another form to add my lost and found wedding band to the case information, he handed me her confession and remarked that I'd probably get a kick out of it. She wrote that she'd "borrowed" the jewelry to pawn to pay her rent and had intended on getting it back from the pawn shop once she had the money. She stated that she "didn't have the heart to pawn the wedding ring" and planned to return it with the rest of the jewelry. Nowhere did her confession state that she was sorry for stealing, but she did end by saying that she was sorry she was not able to return the jewelry to my jewelry box before I noticed it was missing. I scoffed at the page full of lies. The officer informed me that she did not put the jewelry on hold, but actually sold it and told the pawn shop employee that she'd just broken up with her boyfriend and was getting rid of everything he'd given to her. Then there's the fact that she couldn't have had intended to return my wedding ring because she got rid of the box, removed the tag and was wearing it as her own. Part of me wants to get rid of the tainted ring… but now that the tags are gone and it's become used instead of brand new, I wouldn't be able to sell if for what it's worth. Hopefully one day when I do wear that ring, I'll look down at it and think of what a funny story it has rather then remember the fact that a liar who broke my trust wore it on her thieving finger for two weeks.
All in all, justice will be served. Being a mother of two young children, I assume the judge will give her probation or community service instead of throwing her in jail. If I'm lucky, I might see my $200 back someday. Maybe whomever she was stealing from in October and November will be reunited with their missing jewelry, too. Who knows? All I can say is that I don't feel victimized or hurt… but I am disappointed that I was taken advantage of and lied to by someone I trusted with my son's life. I thought I was a good judge of character, but perhaps my desire to help someone in need skewed my intuition. I almost regret giving her Jackson's things… just thinking about how she thanked me and acted like everything was fine is infuriating… but it's not her baby's fault. Speaking of, I left out the part about how the night of the initial accusations put her under so much stress that she went into labor that night and had the baby early. It was a boy. He'll have free diapers and plenty of clothes for the first month… and a mother with Grand Larson on her record forever. On a final note, this morning she called me again and left me a voicemail, but this time it wasn't about the $25 I owe her. This time it was to cry about how sorry she was for "the most stupid mistake of her life" and about how fearful she is of loosing her kids. She's not sorry for what she did. She's just sorry she got caught.
When I tell Jackson about his first Christmas, I may leave out some details. Instead, I'll share with him how we were surrounded by the love of friends and family and show him pictures of the toys and clothes he received… but more importantly, emphasize how lucky we were to have a happy, healthy baby safe within our arms. With this chapter of life now closed…. I say farewell to an eventful and turbulent 2008 filled with ups and down… and welcome brighter, more hopeful days to come in 2009. (Oh, and along with those brighter days, a new nanny with proper credentials who cares for children in her own home.)
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