NEW PALESTINE — A couple faces criminal charges after being caught stealing from a Hancock County assisted living facility, according to police.
Investigators say the couple walked into Woodland Terrace Senior Living, 4400 Terrace Drive, New Palestine, on Sunday, and leisurely strolled around the facility looking for unattended items. Officers circulated photos of the couple, captured on security camera footage from inside the facility, to identify them. They were arrested Wednesday.
Gregory Neeb, 52, and Katrina Neeb, 59, each face one Level 6 felony count of a theft and one Class A misdemeanor of criminal mischief, court records show.
Gregory Neeb refused to speak with investigators; but his wife admitted they were involved with the theft, telling police they’d stolen a pair of laptop computers and several power tools from the facility, according to court documents. Katrina Neeb told police her husband planned to trade the items for drugs, court documents state.
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The couple was booked into the Hancock County Jail Wednesday afternoon. Katrina Need has since been released on a $1,600 cash bond; her husband is being held without bond pending his first court appearance.
New Palestine Police Department officers visited the couple’s home, 8395 W. Sycamore Drive, Fairland, after receiving tips they might have been the suspects involved in the alleged theft.
Police found a white Chevy Malibu — the same vehicle the thieves drove — parked in the driveway, and spoke with Katrina Neeb about what occurred, according to documents.
Katrina Neeb said the couple visited Woodland Terrace Senior Living, hoping to learn more about maybe moving her mother into the facility. As they were walking around, Gregory Neeb began messing with two unattended laptop computers, according to court documents.
Katrina Neeb told police she told her husband she didn’t want anything to do with stealing the items. She left the nursing home and went shopping at a nearby grocery store and pharmacy, leaving her husband behind, court documents state.
When she returned to pick him up, Gregory was outside a loading dock at the back to the building, Katrina said. Gregory began loading items into the car and ordered Katrina to help him, saying "if he got caught by the police, he was going to make sure she got it when they got home," she told police, according to court documents.
After theft was reported to police and the Neebs’ photos were circulated online, Gregory Neeb told his wife to get rid of the stolen property, Katrina Neeb told investigators.
She led police to the two wooden areas where she’d dumped the items. Officers recovered two laptops, an electric heater, a tool bag, several power tools and a transport dolly, according to court documents.