A former employee at an assisted living facility is accused of stealing his patient’s bank card and using it to buy gift cards — just hours after the man died.
Dannair Byrd, a former employee at Tapestry House Memory Care in Roswell, is charged with one count of financial transaction card theft for allegedly taking Frank Yoder’s card and using it to rack up charges at a Johns Creek Kroger, Channel 2 Action News reported.
Yoder died last August after battling dementia, his family told the news station. Days later, they were notified that the man’s card had been used to purchase two $100 gift cards, police said.
Yoder’s family spent weeks working with the grocery store chain to track down surveillance footage of the alleged thief. They said they were shocked when they recognized the person in the video as the 36-year-old who looked after Yoder.
“My brother liked him and trusted him,” Yoder’s sister Leslie Webb told the news station.
Police said that several hours after his patient died, Byrd went to the man’s room and took the card. He can be seen on the grocery store’s surveillance footage entering the Kroger in his work uniform later that day, Roswell police said.
Lisa Lewis, executive director of Tapestry House, said the arrest has prompted changes at the facility. Staff members now have limited access to patients’ rooms, she said.
Byrd is out of jail on a $5,000 bond, records show. His next court appearance has not been set.
In an interview with Channel 2 Action News on Wednesday, Byrd denied the charges against him.
“I was close to him and a lot of other people was too,” he said. “He was a nice guy. I wouldn’t do something like that.”
When asked about the surveillance footage, Byrd admitted standing in the Kroger checkout line but insisted that he didn’t actually buy anything.
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