Nursing home worker steals necklace from patient, cops say

A nursing home employee from Wyandanch has been charged with stealing a dementia patient's gold necklace and pawning it for cash, Suffolk police said Friday.

Beyonca King, 29, a certified nursing assistant, has been charged with petit larceny after the necklace went missing last month. Police said the family of a patient at Berkshire Nursing Rehabilitation Center in West Babylon called police on June 25 after a gold necklace and charm worn by the patient disappeared.

First Precinct officers conducted an investigation and arrested King, of 15 Levey Blvd. on Friday. King has worked at the facility since 2010, police said. The nursing home cooperated and assisted police in the investigation.

King was arraigned at First District Court in Central Islip on Friday and released without bail, court records show. Reached Friday evening, staff at the nursing home could not confirm whether King had been fired.

The investigation is continuing, police said. Anyone with information about this case is asked to call the First Precinct Crime Section at 631-854-8130.