One of the women claimed a sum of money turned into West Hartford Police was hers, but when the real victims turned up, an investigation revealed the chain of events.
Yahaira Santiago (left) and Jennifer Melo. Photo courtesy of West Hartford Police Department
By Ronni Newton
Two women who at first denied knowing each other were eventually discovered to be half sisters who conspired to steal money from the West Hartford Police Department.
According to West Hartford Police Lt. Ted Stoneburner, on Feb. 3, 2016, Yahaira Santiago, 30, of Hartford, found a sum of money left behind in a purse at her place of employment, Doctors Express Urgent Care at 1030 Boulevard in West Hartford. Santiago turned the money in to her supervisor, but apparently not before taking note of the exact denominations and snapping a picture of the purse with her cellphone, police said.
Doctors Express contacted police, and turned over the $1,100 to an officer, Stoneburner said. The money was held at the West Hartford Police station on Raymond Road.
Police said that the next day, on Feb. 4, Jennifer Melo, 26, of Hartford, arrived at the West Hartford Police station to claim the money. Although she could not produce a receipt for the funds, Melo knew the exact denominations of the bills and even had a picture of the purse on her cellphone. She told police the money was a gift from her mother, who had returned to Brazil.
Police turned over the $1,100 to Melo because she had produced enough proof that the money was hers.
Police said the women probably would have gotten away with the theft, except that the real victims came into the police station a week later, on Feb. 10, 2016. “They had a Santander Bank envelope and the receipt,” Stoneburner said. The victims told police they thought they had lost the money at Doctors Express.
“We knew there had to be inside information, because it would be the only way [Melo] would know the denominations,” Stoneburner said. Plus she had the photo of the purse.
When first questioned, Santiago and Melo denied knowing each other.
However, that proved to be completely false after what Stoneburner called an “outstanding investigation” by Officer John Cardone and the father/son team of Brian and Dalton Gallagher.
At first the women were discovered to be Facebook friends who were in pictures together, and then a search warrant for phone records revealed that the women had spoken to each other 120 times in the 10 days after the theft. Their calls were very frequent, Stoneburner said, right after police had also had conversations with one or the other of them.
“We found out that not only did they know each other, but they are actually sisters,” Stoneburner said.
Both women were arrested on March 4.
“They probably didn’t think anyone would claim the money. If the real victim didn’t come in, we probably never would have known,” Stoneburner said.
Santiago was released on a court set bond of $25,000. She is currently on probation for unrelated charges, police said.
Melo was released on $1,100 court set cash bond – the same amount as the sum she stole from the West Hartford Police Department.
Both women are scheduled to appear in court on March 17.
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