Former employee of Cranberry dental office charged for stealing money and patient information
CRANBERRY TOWNSHIP, Pa. (KDKA) - Police charged a Harmony Township woman with committing crimes at her former place of work, a dental office.
Investigators say 33-year-old Ciara Stawarz broke in and stole money and confidential information from Cranberry Dental Arts off Route 19 in Cranberry Township. Now she's facing more than 70 felonies, including burglary, in connection to incidents here in Butler County and at other offices owned by the same dentist.
According to court documents, police pinned the crimes on Stawarz after reviewing surveillance videos, IP addresses, and various other business and software records. Police said she worked for the office for about a year before resigning at the end of September.
The videos capture the moments Stawarz unlocked the front door and entered the office on October 13 and 17, wearing a black wig and a surgical mask. In each incident, you see her open a drawer and in one case, use a desktop computer.
Police said she stole more than $16,000 total during these burglaries, and they say Stawarz stole employee log-in credentials to access banking account and payment information, along with scheduling, and patient records.
The complaint describes that she accessed at least 72 online patient registrations, and "added, deleted, and/or altered… appointments and scheduled procedures."
Police also said Stawarz committed similar burglaries at Excel Dental offices in Scott Township and Moon Township in October, which are also owned by the same dentist.
In the more than 60 years Jack Seltzer has been in business, he said he's always had faithful employees and hopes justice is served.
"That should never happen," Seltzer said. "You have someone providing her an income, providing her an opportunity to work, and then she steals from them, no, that's not right."
KDKA reached out to the business for comment but has not heard back at this time.
Stawarz is currently awaiting a preliminary hearing.