⚠️ A Union County house cleaner is accused of stealing valuables from clients’ homes.
💰 Police say the stolen cash, jewelry and other valuables total more than $100,000.
🔎 Detectives say they found photographic proof of Kucharczyk selling stolen jewelry.
WESTFIELD — A Union County house cleaner is accused of stealing cash, jewelry and other valuables from a number of clients’ homes in Westfield, worth a six-figure total.
The case sounds like an episode from the Apple Plus series “Your Friends and Neighbors,” without a Jon Hamm stand-in as an real-life accomplice.
Beata B. Kucharczyk, of Linden was arrested on Wednesday afternoon by detectives staking out her home, Westfield Police Chief Christopher Battiloro said.
The 50-year-old Kucharczyk has been charged with second-degree theft.
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Police say a trusted house cleaner had access to the homes
Starting late last month, separate thefts were reported to Westfield Police between Aug. 29 and Sept. 11, by unrelated victims.
Some of the cash, jewelry, personal documents and other missing valuables had been stolen months earlier, before being discovered, police said.
Investigators with the Westfield Police Department’s Detective Bureau quickly identified Kucharczyk as the common thread — she was hired and granted repeat, unrestricted access to all of the targeted Westfield homes while cleaning the homes.
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Police say stolen jewelry was sold at a Linden store
Police then found transactional records of Kucharczyk, with photographic proof, selling multiple pieces of the stolen jewelry to a store in Linden.
The complaint warrant for Kucharczyk was issued on Sept. 11, but it took police nearly two weeks to find her.
Police ask for information about other possible thefts
Kucharczyk was processed at the Westfield Police Department and briefly taken to Union County Jail.
She will be held in Essex County Jail, pending further court proceedings.
Anyone with any additional information, either on the reported thefts or potential, additional thefts was urged to contact Detective Eric Carrero of the Westfield Police Department at 908-789-6073 or by e-mail at ecarrero@wpdnj.org.
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