WINTER HAVEN, Florida—Detectives from the Polk County, Florida, sheriff’s office arrested Carrie Hutchinson of Winter Haven, a private certified nursing assistant who practices as a home health care nurse, and charged her with grand theft of $100,000 or more, exploitation of the elderly and criminal use of personal ID. The investigation of Hutchinson revealed that she stole $141,594 from the 77-year-old blind man who employed her.
Hutchinson was hired by her employer as a home health nurse to care for his wife. In January 2020, the employer’s wife passed away, but he retained her as his personal assistant. As such, she had access to his accounts in order to pay his bills, do his shopping and take care of his finances. Her salary was $5,800 per month, until she received a $2,000 monthly raise in 2024.
In July 2024, Hutchison’s employer became suspicious about the state of his finances and asked a friend—a retired chief financial officer—to investigate his accounts. The friend found numerous fraudulent transactions, including:
- An order of “pop-on veneers” totaling $780 that was sent to Hutchinson in July 2024, charged to the employer’s American Express card.
- A December 2023 United Airlines ticket for a friend of Hutchinson’s to fly to Florida and visit her, charged to the employer’s American Express card.
- An August 2023 payment to Allegiant Airlines of $1,588 for Hutchinson and four friends to fly to Bangor, Maine, charged to the employer’s Bank of America card.
- A total of 270 orders on the employer’s Amazon account, which were placed between April 2021 and July 2024 and totaled $4,774.
In July 2024, when Hutchinson returned from a cruise, her employer confronted her about the theft and terminated her employment. At that time, Hutchinson said she had "borrowed" money from him to pay for her cruise, but that she was allegedly going to pay him back.
Hutchinson’s four years’ worth of theft from her employer included ATM withdrawals, payments for cruises, photography classes, VRBO rentals, pet supplies, animal hospital charges and her personal credit cards.
“This woman's actions are despicable,” said Grady Judd, sheriff of Polk County, Florida. “Taking advantage of an elderly man who entrusted her with his life savings, while also paying her a good salary, is inexcusable and unforgivable. She is now charged with three very serious felonies.”
