News and Investigations

Polk County Sheriff’s Office detectives arrested 46-year-old Carrie Hutchinson of Winter Haven, a private certified nursing assistant (CNA) who practices as a home health care nurse, and charged her with grand theft of $100,000 or more (F1), exploitation of the elderly (F1), and criminal use of personal ID (F2) after the investigation revealed she stole $141,594 from the 77-year-old blind victim who employed her.

In July 2024, the Winter Haven man became suspicious about the state of his finances and asked a friend of his, who is a retired chief financial officer, to look into his accounts. Numerous fraudulent transactions were found, and here are a few examples:

An order of "Pop On Veneers" that was sent to Hutchinson in July 2024, totalling $780.00 and charged to the victim's American Express card.

A United Airlines ticket in December 2023 for a friend of Hutchinson's to fly to Florida and visit her, charged to the victim's American Express card. 

A payment of $1,588 on the victim's Bank of America card to Allegiant Airlines in August 2023 for Hutchinson and four friends to fly to Bangor, Maine.

270 orders on the victim's Amazon account between April 2021 and July 2024, totalling $4,774.00.

Her four years' worth of theft from the victim included ATM withdrawals, and payments for cruises, photography classes, VRBO rentals, pet supplies, animal hospital charges, and her personal credit cards.

Hutchinson was hired by the victim as a home health nurse to care for his wife; in January 2020, the victim's wife passed away and the victim 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 a month until 2024 when she received a raise and was paid $6,000 a month. 

In July 2024, when she returned from a cruise, he confronted her about the theft and terminated her employment. At that time she told him she had "borrowed" money from him to pay for her cruise but that she was going to pay him back, and now that she is no longer employed, she would not be able to do so.

"This woman's actions are despicable. 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." - Grady Judd, Sheriff