$800,000 Stolen From Basement; 5 Held

A 91-year-old man amassed $800,000 in his basement since the Depression because he did not trust the banks. He did, however, trust a woman who cleaned his house.

Now, authorities have accused the woman and four others of sneaking into the man’s house while he slept, hauling away cash, gold coins and securities and spending the take on cars, vacations and appliances.

“I’d like to wring their necks,” the robbery victim said Saturday from his home in Barnesboro, Pa., a town of 2,700 people about 75 miles east of Pittsburgh. He asked that his name not be used because he’s afraid of being robbed again.

The victim, a widower, coin collector and retired coal miner, noticed that the money was missing in early May but did not report the theft until June 3, Barnesboro Mayor Mike Suchar said.

Police arrested five people last week, two of them as they returned from a Florida vacation, Suchar said.

Police said one of the suspects told the others about a padlocked strongbox she noticed while cleaning the man’s basement. The group entered the house while the man slept and broke the lock on the strongbox, police said.

About $60,000 in cash has been recovered. Suchar said the securities, which were payable only to the victim, may have been burned.