Man Accused Of Stealing Money From Grandma
CROWN POINT, Ind. (CBS) -- A man acquitted of murder in his mother's death has been charged with seven felony counts for allegedly burglarizing his grandmother's home, stealing checks, forging and cashing them.
Allen James Vitoux, 37, of Cedar Lake, was charged in Lake Superior Court with burglary, two counts of forgery, two counts of fraud on a financial institution, residential entry and theft after his grandmother called police after discovering a check missing and money withdrawn from her accounts.
The woman told police Vitoux had visited her Merrillville home with a female companion who engaged the grandmother in conversation while Vitoux roamed the house.
The woman suspected a check was taken from her Chase Bank account during Vitoux's visit, which was the first in several months.
On Sept. 19, the woman contacted police again after Vitoux called her for money for a room at American's Best Value Inn, 8250 Louisiana St. Police arrested Vitoux there and found forged checks in his wallet, the probable cause affidavit states.
An investigation showed more than $7,000 taken from the woman's First Midwest Bank account along with the $400 missing from Chase. The crimes occurred between mid-April and mid-September. The charges are punishable by a maximum 20-year sentence.
Vitoux was acquitted in March 2006 in the strangulation and suffocation death of his mother, Abbie Vitoux. The 52-year-old woman was killed June 25, 2005, in her Crown Point apartment.
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