Conn. Firefighter Stole $125,000 from 95-Year-Old Woman, Documents Say

Dec. 15--NEW HAVEN -- She couldn't see the bank statements because her eyesight was failing, but a New Haven woman who allegedly lost thousands of dollars at the hands of a city firefighter said she knew something was wrong when she saw how long the statements were.

The statements -- normally 2 to 3 pages -- went on for several pages with many lines that the woman, 95, couldn't read.

Instead, she said she relied on firefighter Kenneth Burgos to tell her what the bank statements said, according to court documents released Tuesday.

Burgos, 41, was arrested Monday and charged with stealing more than $125,000 from the woman, who he met when he responded to her home on an emergency call years ago, police said.

"The investigation definitely pulled the heartstrings of every person in this department," police Lt. Otoniel Reyes said Tuesday at the police department. "Any time an elderly person gets taken advantage of like this, it's something we do not take lightly. It's something that affects all of us, particularly when it's done by someone who is tasked with really taking care of the elderly and the public."

Reyes said the case offers a cautionary tale for elderly people. He said families should educate themselves about the existence of financial predators, who could be a close acquaintance or a complete stranger.

"We deal with this way too often," he said.

Reyes said the allegations detail a violation of the oath emergency personnel take to protect people. However, he said the case was not a representation of the entire fire department. He noted that firefighters were the ones who ultimately brought the case to the attention of police.

"Because of them, we were able to stop any further damage and any further suffering on her behalf," he said.

According to the arrest warrant affidavit, the woman eventually was so afraid of Burgos that she had once come out of her home swinging a baseball bat when firefighters arrived there, scared he might be among them.

Burgos also is accused of calling the woman in a nursing home and telling the woman to drop the accusations -- even after police told him not to contact her.

Burgos is charged with first-degree larceny and tampering with a witness. He is free on $50,000 bail and is to appear in court Dec. 22. He is on paid administrative leave from the fire department.

Burgos has been ordered not to contact the woman.

Police examined the woman's finances and allegedly found she was missing $125,241.

A woman who answered the door at Burgos' home on Farren Avenue early Tuesday afternoon declined to comment and quickly shut the door. It was not immediately clear whether Burgos has an attorney.

In court documents, Burgos admitted to taking some of the woman's money. He told investigators he has several children and had debts that were in collections.

Police first responded to the woman's home in Fair Haven Heights on Dec. 5, 2014, on a fraud complaint.

The woman told police a New Haven firefighter had taken $5,000 from her First Niagara bank account without her permission. The woman showed an officer a bank statement, which reportedly showed withdrawals in $1,000 increments.

The woman also said she gave Burgos a $3,000 stock dividend check to deposit into her account but she didn't see it there, the affidavit says.

At that time, Burgos had been her power of attorney for about three years, according to the court documents. He gave the officer documents confirming that and said he used money from her account for her groceries and chores around her house.

The officer asked Burgos about the $3,000 dividend check and Burgos said he had deposited it but lost the bank receipt when he washed his clothes.

When the officer asked about the money the woman claimed to be missing, Burgos allegedly said, "Well, I have six kids."

Six months later, in June 2015, police were back at the woman's home. The woman again said Burgos was stealing her money and said Burgos told her he had a will in place for her in case she died.

The woman said she hadn't given Burgos permission to hold her power of attorney or to create a will for her.

In September, officers again responded to the woman's home, on a welfare check call.

New Haven firefighters were at the home. A fire lieutenant told the officers the woman said a firefighter stole her money. The woman said she was scared and didn't trust Burgos, who had a key to her home. The woman said she didn't feel safe in her home and wanted to go to the hospital.

The woman was taken to Yale-New Haven Hospital's St. Raphael campus. A detective met with her in the emergency room where she "was crying and visibly shaken."

She told the detective she wanted to sell her home because Burgos had a key and she was afraid he would go inside and take more of her financial documents, such as her checks and stock certificates.

The woman said Burgos showed up at her door in 2011, after the medical call where they met, and asked for a job taking care of her landscaping, the affidavit says.

She said she paid him $50 to cut the grass and trim its edges. About a month later, Burgos allegedly told her he was having trouble with his wife and said he was in financial straits.

For about six months after that, Burgos came over to her home and helped her with grocery shopping, chores and her banking, which she said had become difficult because of her age.

The woman said Burgos was allowed to do some things with her finances. He could, for example, deposit her pension check and her stock dividend checks to her account. However, she said Burgos was not allowed to take any money from her accounts unless she had "an absolute emergency."

In 2015, Burgos allegedly told the victim that her First Niagara account was out of money and that she needed to make a deposit from somewhere else. The woman told Burgos to take money from an account she had with Connex Credit Union and move it to the First Niagara account so her checks wouldn't bounce, the affidavit says.

She said she gave Burgos permission to move about $51,000 from Connex to First Niagara, which she thought would be more than enough.

Speaking to the detective a week later at the hospital, the woman said she couldn't understand why she would need so much money in her account, the affidavit says.

The victim said she receives Social Security, a pension check and dividend checks. She said Burgos didn't buy groceries for her, only bringing her yogurt, milkshakes and an occasional loaf of bread.

She said she once looked at her check ledger and found a $5,000 check to Burgos she didn't write, the affidavit says.

On Sept. 14, police executed a search warrant for Burgos' work locker at the firehouse on Woodward Avenue, where he was stationed. They also searched his account at the New Haven Firefighters Credit Union.

Burgos voluntarily spoke with police and said he'd been with the Fire Department for 17 years. He told police he had the woman's power of attorney and was the sole beneficiary of her estate if she died, according to court documents.

He said he had several debts and that debt collectors took the money from the woman's account. He asked them to return the funds and he said they did.

Burgos said he spent as much as $225 on groceries for the woman but said she allowed him to keep hundreds of dollars left over each month after her bills had been paid, the affidavit says.

He also told police when he transferred money from the woman's Connex account to her First Niagara account, the transfer was for $52,000. He said he moved $50,000 to the new account but kept $2,000 for himself -- even though the woman hadn't given him permission.

He allegedly said the woman also gave him $6,000 to close on the sale of a house in June 2015. He used $4,000 for the closing but said he kept $2,000 for himself -- without the woman's knowledge, the affidavit says.

The next day, police went back to the hospital to talk to the woman and a nurse there told them Burgos called, saying he needed to speak with her.

The woman told police Burgos had previously taken her to an attorney in East Haven to make out a will. Burgos and the attorney allegedly handed her eight blank pieces of paper and told her to sign them, which she'd be able to view once it was complete, the affidavit says.

The woman said she never saw that will. Police said the will had the woman's signatures written by someone who is right-handed. The exception was the last page, which police said was either signed by someone left-handed or signed before the language was put on it. The woman is right-handed.

The woman said Burgos expected her to give his children large amounts of money and grew angry if she didn't.

The woman has been assigned a conservator and has been living in a nursing home, according to court documents. Police said Burgos called her there after the investigation started and told her to drop the case.

Burgos allegedly admitted to making the call but said he didn't say anything to scare the woman.

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