Suffolk, Va. - 82-year-old Doretha Ricks trusted her in-home caretaker with her life, but that trust was broken when Suffolk Police say 31-year-old Lynette Riddick stole her debit card, racking up more than $1,100 in purchases. Investigators arrested Riddick Tuesday.
“She went crazy with that card,” Doretha says.
In just five days, Doretha says Riddick used her card nearly thirty times, spending the most on a trip to Walmart, but also hitting up fast food restaurants, gas stations, beauty supply stores, and nail salons.
Looking back, Doretha says there were some signs.
“She had her nails done and I said `Where`d you get those nails from? ` She said my boyfriend got them for me,” Doretha recalls. “I said woo you got another wig on your head. And she said yeah I got a whole lot of them at home.”
Riddick, who Police say works for Serenity Home Health Care, Inc., only cared for Doretha for a few weeks before Doretha says her bank card disappeared from her pocket book.
There were times she says that she let Riddick hold her purse.
“She was still working for me and I didn`t know she had my card,” Doretha says.
Doretha says the experience has made her think twice before trusting others.
"I aint that big a fool,” she says. “I think something is wrong with her when you do something like that.”
