Former employee at State College retirement community accused of stealing from residents
A former Foxdale Village Retirement Community maintenance employee was charged Wednesday with stealing nearly $1,500 of prescription medication, jewelry and money.
State College police accused Austin Melville, 23, of taking the items from six residents during his less than three-month tenure, according to an affidavit of probable cause filed Wednesday.
Melville, of Bellefonte, was fired in October based on the company’s findings, police wrote. A lawyer for Melville was not listed on a court document.
“That’s not something we tolerate here, and we dealt with it quickly,” company CEO Richard Lysle said Thursday. “We felt it was important enough that we should report it to the police.”
Melville was seen in Foxdale’s buildings — without work orders — on several occasions where many of the reported thefts occurred, police wrote.
Several other units had work orders completed by Melville, and then had items taken from their units a short time later, police wrote.
Melville was charged with one felony count each of theft by unlawful taking and receiving stolen property.
He was arraigned Wednesday by District Judge Kelley Gillette-Walker, who released him on $75,000 unsecured bail. His preliminary hearing is scheduled for Jan. 22.
This story was originally published January 9, 2020 at 1:46 PM.