A Central Florida cleaning business owner was arrested, and then was arrested again, and then again by local law enforcement.
Polk County Sheriff’s Office deputies arrested 31-year-old Ashley Hernandez, of Lakeland, following a theft investigation involving thousands of dollars in stolen jewelry from an elderly victim.
The investigation began when deputies responded to a Lakeland residence regarding a reported grand theft. The 67-year-old victim told deputies she believed her house cleaner, Hernandez, had entered her master bedroom during scheduled cleanings and stolen approximately $11,500 worth of jewelry.
According to law enforcement, Ashley Hernandez, who owns her own cleaning business, was hired to clean the victim’s house three times. During each visit, she had full access to the home and was often alone inside the residence.
The elderly victim discovered several high value items missing from her jewelry box, including:
- an 8 inch diamond bracelet valued at $2,000
- a pendant valued at $3,000
- an 18 carat gold men’s ring with a Medusa imprint valued at $3,000
- a 7 inch 18 carat gold ID bracelet valued at $3,000
- a pair of 18 carat gold panther earrings valued at $500
Detectives located several of the stolen pieces at Quick Cash Liquidators, and confirmed that Hernandez had completed 12 separate fraudulent pawn transactions. In total, she is accused of stealing at least $12,180 in jewelry. Unfortunately, some of the jewelry has already been sold or melted down.
Ashley Hernandez was arrested and charged with dealing in stolen property, providing false owner information to a pawnbroker, and theft from a person 65 years or older.
During the investigation, the victim reported that others on Hernandez’s social media page had accused her of similar thefts. A friend of the victim, who also used Hernandez’s cleaning services, confirmed that items totaling $350 were missing from her Brandon home near Tampa. The theft portion of that investigation is being handled by the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office, but PCSO detectives responded to the jail and added on a dealing in stolen property charge, and another charge of providing false info to a pawnbroker, after confirming the jewelry Hernandez stole from the victim in Brandon, she pawned in Polk County.
Then, a Mulberry woman contacted the Polk County Sheriff’s Office after learning about Hernandez’s arrest, and reported that she hired Hernandez on three occasions to clean her home. She searched the house at that point and noticed a white gold ring valued at $2,500 was missing. The ring was kept in a small jewelry dish next to her bathroom sink.
The victim positively identified the ring as property recovered by PCSO at Quick Cash Liquidators, where Hernandez had completed 12 separate fraudulent pawn transactions. The pawn shop provided the receipt for the pawned stolen ring, signed by Hernandez on January 28th; the receipt included a copy of her identification and her right thumbprint.
Detectives obtained an arrest warrant charging Hernandez with dealing in stolen property, providing false owner information to a pawnbroker, scheme to defraud, and grand theft. She was taken into custody again.
This is Hernandez’s third arrest since February 18th.
“We would be willing to bet there are more victims out there,” said Sheriff Grady Judd. He said she was arrested, then she bonded out of jail days later, and cleaned this new victim’s home just days after that. “If Ashley cleaned your home, she may have cleaned you out. Please check your valuables and contact us if you suspect she did the same to you.”
“When you invite someone into your home to work, you’re placing a great deal of trust in them,” said Sheriff Grady Judd. “This suspect took advantage of that trust, and our detectives, who are the very best, wasted no time uncovering the truth. I would suggest that anyone who allowed this suspect into their home do a full inventory on their valuables, and report any suspected theft to your local law enforcement agency.”
