The Edmond Sun

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March 16, 2006

Senior citizen’s spy cam catches intruder

Police arrest retirement community’s manager

Alice Collinsworth

EDMOND — A 76-year-old Bradford Village Retirement Community resident employed a trick she’d seen on television to catch the retirement center manager allegedly stealing money from her purse, according to an Edmond Police Department report.

Carl S. Balaban, age 48, was arrested on the burglary complaint Monday, the report stated.

The resident, who wishes to remain unidentified, had noticed money missing from her purse on several occasions, the report stated. She and an accomplice set up a video recorder inside her apartment at the retirement center, 906 N. Boulevard.

“I’d seen it done on TV,” she said in a phone interview Thursday. “I didn’t know why I couldn’t do it myself.”

The trick worked, and the camera caught Balaban allegedly entering her apartment on Feb. 28 while she was out, the report stated. Balaban is seen picking up the purse from under a table, leaving the room, and then replacing the purse, police said.

Missing from her purse that day was $110, according to the police report.

The victim, who said she is “technically blind,” suspects the employee may have done the same to other residents.

“He apparently has a habit of going into other people’s apartments,” she said. “I’ve heard stories.”

When police confronted Balaban with the videotaped evidence, he claimed the victim had given him permission to take money from her purse on two or three occasions, the report stated. He also said the woman had problems with handling cash and he was trying to assist her, police said.

The resident, however, told a different story.

“I told a friend of mine I would’ve told him to take my body before I’d tell him to take my purse,” she said. “What old woman would let anyone take her purse?”

The victim told police she never gave Balaban permission to take money and had asked him not to enter her room, according to the report.

Balaban agreed to take a polygraph exam, the report stated. One scoring system determined his answers showed “deception” and one showed “extreme deception,” according to the report. Because of the results, he was arrested on a complaint of second-degree burglary.

“I’ve lived in Edmond 42 years,” the victim said. “I’ve never had anything like this happen. Never.”

She has lived at Bradford Village since last April, and said she had money disappear from her purse on several occasions. Total amount of the loss is $570, according to the police report.

She encourages others to take care of themselves and their possessions.

“People should look out for themselves,” she said. “I don’t have anybody. If I don’t take care of me, who will? I just thought I was being smart.”

Balaban was released from the Oklahoma County Jail Wednesday on a $3,000 bond, a sheriff’s department spokesperson said.

The Edmond Sun attempted to contact American Retirement Corporation in Austin, Texas, which manages the Bradford Village complex, but the company did not respond to The Sun’s questions by deadline.

(Alice Collinsworth may be reached via e-mail at acollinsworth@edmondsun.com.)

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