HOLLISTER
– Sheriff’s deputies arrested a 33-year-old Hollister woman on
suspicion of stealing and forging checks totaling more than $3,000
from a 51-year-old quadriplegic woman she had been taking care of
for nearly nine months, police said.
HOLLISTER – Sheriff’s deputies arrested a 33-year-old Hollister woman on suspicion of stealing and forging checks totaling more than $3,000 from a 51-year-old quadriplegic woman she had been taking care of for nearly nine months, police said.
Denise Mae Gaona, who also goes by Denise Mae Hubbell, was arrested Wednesday after a month-long investigation by San Benito County Sheriff’s deputies, said Detective Chris Greene.
Gaona began stealing from her about two months ago, Greene said. The thefts were reported by the victim.”
“She got her statement and realized there were a bunch of checks she did not write,” Greene said.
Gaona was booked on three separate felony charges – 20 counts of forgery, seven counts of grand theft and one count of elder abuse, according San Benito County Jail personnel. The elder abuse charge was added because if someone is entrusted with taking care of someone and they steal from them they can be charged with a felony, Greene said.
Gaona has several prior arrests for forgery in San Benito County, the most recent dating back 10 years, according to county jail personnel.
In 1994, under the name Denise Mae Hubbell, she was booked three separate times with a total of 18 counts of forgery.
She also was prosecuted at the San Benito County Superior Court for forgery in 1993 and for writing fictitious checks in 1994, according to court personnel.
The grand theft charges were included because seven of the checks she wrote were more than $400, Greene said. The other checks were of lesser amounts, and are considered petty theft, he said.
“She took blank checks from the victim, wrote them out and cashed them at different locations – banking establishments – some in Hollister and some in San Juan Bautista,” he said.
After being notified by the victim, deputies began investigating the fraud and eventually asked Gaona to come to the Sheriff’s Department for an interview, to which she agreed, Greene said.
“She voluntarily came in to answer some questions and following the interview she was taken into custody,” he said.
She was then booked into the San Benito County Jail in lieu of $350,000 bail.
Deputies are in the process of completing their investigation, which includes garnering copies of the forged checks and comparing signatures and handwriting, Greene said.
The case is being forwarded to the District Attorney’s Office for prosecution.
