EL CAJON (CNS) - A caretaker accused of stealing thousands of dollars from a 93-year-old war veteran and letting him live in filth in his East County home pleaded not guilty Wednesday to four felony charges, including elder abuse and false imprisonment.
Milagros Angeles, 62, was ordered held on $1 million bail.
"It is truly a very tragic case of a gentleman who was taken advantage of by an individual who was working to steal, essentially, the money that was supporting him," Deputy District Attorney Danielle Hickman said outside court. "He's 93 years old and was dependent on her for care and assistance and he clearly was not receiving that."
Angeles had been working for widower Arnold Bauer since 2009, Hickman told Judge Charles Ervin.
When employees where Bauer did his banking noticed he hadn't been in since October, Adult Protective Services went to check on him, Hickman said.
Once inside the house, investigators found the World War II veteran living in "filth and squalor," with rat feces and trash everywhere, the prosecutor said.
Authorities found $9,000 cash in the defendant's bedroom and clothing, Hickman said.
She said Angeles had written 56 checks to herself totaling $5,600, and had written more checks totaling $1,800.
She was also allegedly sending money to the Philippines, the prosecutor said.
Bauer, who has dementia, was hospitalized for a severe urinary infection, and while there, he was diagnosed with prostate cancer, Hickman said.
Besides elder abuse and false imprisonment of an elder, Angeles is charged with theft by a caretaker and being in possession of altered checks.
She faces six years eight months in prison if convicted, but that could change if more charges are added, the prosecutor said.
