Nursing assistant charged with stealing $7,800 from elderly Tri-Cities area man

A 39-year-old caregiver is accused of stealing $7,800 from a trust set up for her 86-year-old patient.

Benton County prosecutors charged Teresa Cantu with first-degree theft with an aggravating circumstance of targeting a vulnerable victim.

While Cantu was scheduled to enter a plea this week, court records show she missed the hearing, and a bench warrant was issued for her arrest.

She is accused of using 10 checks stolen from her elderly patient to take the money between late September and early December, court documents said.

Washington state records show Cantu got her nursing assistant license in October. She had started working for Chinook Home Healthcare in August and left in December.

It’s not clear when she was providing care for the 86-year-old man in Benton City.

The elderly man and his daughter, who live together, didn’t realize that she had taken the checks, said investigators. They said she complained about not having enough money, and the man had given Cantu $50, court documents said.

The victim’s grandson discovered the missing money in January. He saw that the checks were gone and the carbon copy was ripped out from behind them, something that his grandfather didn’t do.

He called Benton County sheriff’s deputies who allegedly tracked down video footage of Cantu cashing the checks.

She is the second professional caregiver to be accused of pocketing money from an elderly patient in recent months.

McKayla L. Sammons, 29, was charged with first-degree theft and forgery after she allegedly stole $17,000 from a 90-year-old woman in Pasco. She has pleaded innocent and is awaiting trial.