Caretaker, boyfriend arrested for allegedly robbing elderly woman

TULSA, Okla. — A caretaker and her boyfriend are behind bars and accused of robbing the woman she was supposed to take care of.

According to court records, this is not the first time they have done this.

FOX23 spoke with Tulsa Police Robbery Lt. Justin Ritter about how the case unfolded.

Tulsa Police arrested Rikkeita Strong and Brett Bills on Thursday.

They are both accused of working together to rob an elderly woman.

Ritter said it happened at the end of July when TPD got a report that someone stole a woman's medical marijuana and jewelry from her home.

"The information we got is basically that she wakes up in the middle of the night to a suspect wearing all black in a ski mask, takes a blanket over her face and says don't move, don't say anything,” Ritter said.

Ritter said the victim complied, but the suspects took off.

"That is when we learn that this victim is under the care of a company that sends in caretakers to basically watch her and take care of her,” Ritter said.

Ritter said that was their first lead, but when the detective on the case started digging into their own database, “He finds a report where the M.O.'s are pretty much the same in this report elderly victim in the home under the care of the caretaker and has a bunch of jewelry start coming up missing,” Ritter said.

Luckily there were cameras installed in that home, which helped police catch who they later identified as Strong and Bills.

FOX23 got a hold of that case's court documents from April.

They said that Strong sold jewelry to a local pawn shop six times between December 2023 and January 2024.

A lot of the jewelry listed matched the description of items stolen from the victim.

It also notes that Strong was a long-time seller of jewelry and was usually accompanied by her boyfriend who police confirmed to be Bills.

That's when officers made the connection to their current robbery investigation.

"At that point, we start digging into them and low and behold Rikkeita works for the same company that our robbery home invasion victim is using,” Ritter said.

Ritter said it is important to think twice about who you are hiring and it never hurts to do some investigating on your own about who is coming into your or your loved ones' home.

"There is nothing wrong with putting a camera in your home to see what is going on. If they do not like it, it is fine. At least you will have that peace of mind,” Ritter said.

Bills pleaded guilty to several drug charges in 2013 and is likely to face harsher punishment in this case.

Both Strong and Bills were booked into the Tulsa County jail on more than $100,000 bonds each.