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Courtesy photo/Jail mug. Darren Sanders, 33, has been arrested on charges of assaulting and exploiting an elderly New Smyrna Beach woman he was hired to care for, according to the Volusia County Sheriff's Office.
NEW SMYRNA BEACH -- Thanks to alert employees at a bank near Daytona Beach Thursday, a 67-year-old woman may finally get some relief after being struck and threatened by a 33-year-old male caregiver who was also caught in the act trying to force the woman to withdraw money from her bank account, the Volusia County Sheriff's Office said today.
Darren Sanders now faces multiple charges after Volusia County Sheriff's investigators heard the distraught woman relate how Sanders made her fearful and helpless in the face of his angry demands, Sheriff's spokesman Brandon Haught said.
After piecing together what had happened from interviews with the victim, a witness and the bank employees, Sanders was arrested, Haught said.
The victim, a New Smyrna Beach Beach resident, had hired Sanders to help care for her, the spokesman said.
"Sanders' role was to help the victim get around, such as getting in and out of vehicles and other similar situations," Haught said. "However, the victim told deputies that she has been living in fear of Sanders for a while. She felt that he could harm her or her cats."
According to the victim, Sanders had threatened to behead one cat and drown another, Haught said.
"The fear reached a climax Thursday morning when Sanders argued with the victim about money owed to him for his services. He felt that he should receive more than the victim was willing to give," Haught said. "That's when Sanders stepped in close to the woman, yelled and cursed at her and hit her face, according to the victim. The woman tried to activate her medical alert pendant, but Sanders snatched it from her and then went through the house ripping out the phone lines. Determined to get the money he wanted, he forced her into a truck to take her to the bank, injuring her neck and shoulder as he did so. Another female caregiver was present during this altercation, and later told deputies that she was scared of Sanders, too. She went along with Sanders and the victim to the bank because she was afraid of what Sanders might do to the victim."
When they got to the Wachovia Bank on White Street, though, employees were already aware that something wasn't right., the Sheriff's spokesman said.
After Sanders and the victim had visited the bank a few days earlier, a manager noticed that the victim's account balance had been dwindling from several thousand to just a few hundred in the past few months with a lot of the money going to Sanders via checks, Haught said.
The manager then flagged the account. When Sanders appeared at the bank on Thursday law enforcement was called in to investigate.
"With that bit of the story finally revealed, the victim let the floodgates open as she poured out her story of what had been happening to her to investigators," Haught said.
Sanders was charged with false imprisonment, battery on a person 65 years or older and grand theft. He was booked into the Volusia County Branch Jail in Daytona Beach without bail.
The victim was transported by EVAC ambulance to Halifax Health Medical Center in Daytona Beach to be treated for her injuries. The Sheriff's Office and the Florida Department of Children and Families will continue to investigate the victim's care giving situation and additional charges are possible.