TOBYHANNA TOWNSHIP -- A maid in Monroe County is now facing felony charges. Officers say Nancy Rivera of Marshalls Creek stole while cleaning a home in the Poconos.
That home belongs to a police officer.
Nancy Rivera worked for Merry Maids in Saylorsburg and Pocono Mountain Regional Police say she made off with thousands of dollars of jewelry from a home she was cleaning, A home belonging to one of their own officers.
Police tell us Rivera of Marshalls Creek was supposed to be cleaning one of their officer's homes, but instead made a clean sweep.
"They started to notice jewelry missing, things of that nature. And as they looked further, they noticed a lot of jewelry missing," said Police Chief Chris Wagner.
About $7,000 worth of jewelry was missing from the victim's home in the Poconos.
Court papers reveal Rivera stole gold jewelry -- including two Penn State bracelets -- and pawned them at the Stroudsburg Trading Post in East Stroudsburg.
Police tracked the theft through the online database called Leadsonline.com.
"Through that they were able to see what was sold by that individual and then very quickly put that together with the homeowner," said Wagner.
"Criminals aren't smart," said Stroudsburg Trading Post Manager Ryan Potts.
Potts says he remembers Rivera coming into the store to pawn the jewelry, and says the store keeps detailed records according to state requirements.
"We take all of the information off the ID, we fill out the bill of sale, we take item description, model, serial numbers," said Potts.
And that's how Rivera was caught.
Owners of this Merry Maid's franchise in Saylorsburg say this is the first time in 10 years anything like this has ever happened with one of their employees, and that Rivera was immediately let go.
Merry Maids said in a statement,
"The allegations against this former employee are not a reflection of the values and standards of our company. Our customers' safety and well-being are our highest priorities."
Stroudsburg Trading Post managers say cases like this are upsetting to them, too.
"We don't want the stigma of being here to buy and sell stolen stuff that's not why we're here. We are here to run a legitimate business; we're here to help people," said Potts.
Now Rivera is facing felony theft charges, and police are investigating to see if there are more victims. As of right now two other police departments are investigating theft allegations against Rivera.
Rivera was released on bail and is due back in court Thursday.
