KEY WEST, Fla. – A Florida Keys woman is accused of stealing $29,000 worth of jewelry and other property from her roommate and using the roommate's debit card without her permission while the roommate was in a hospital.
Belen Araque, 32, of Big Pine Key, was arrested Wednesday on charges of grand theft and fraudulent use of a credit card and nine counts of dealing in stolen property.
Recommended Videos
The thefts took place in September 2015, when Araque's roommate was in the hospital, Monroe County Sheriff's Office spokeswoman Becky Herrin said.
Araque took $29,000 worth of items, including jewelry, rods and reels, clothes, custom-made knives, a camera and a tablet, and sold many of them at two pawn shops, Herrin said.
The roommate told a detective that she left her phone with Araque when she went to the hospital, and her identification and debit card were stored in the phone's case. She said that when she got out of the hospital, she noticed her belongings were missing and discovered several transactions on her debit card.
Araque was arrested on unrelated charges in North Carolina. She was returned to Florida and booked into a Monroe County jail.