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BERGENFIELD, N.J. – An 84-year-old woman was denied necessities and had her valuables stolen and sold by her son and grandson, Bergenfield police charged.
The elder abuse case began with the July 5 burglary of a Willow Street home, Capt. Mustafa Rabboh said.
The 58-year-old victim told responding officers that she’d returned from work to find rear window broken, Rabboh said.
They traced a blood trail from the sill to an open garage in the rear yard of a home shared by Vance Willard, 61, and his son, Stephen Willard, 25, he said.
The Bergen County Sheriff’s Bureau of Criminal Identification collected evidence, and police the next day interviewed the Willards, the captain said.
Both had stolen cash and jewelry during the break-in, he said.
Vance Willard was released pending a court hearing on charges of burglary, hindering apprehension and obstructing a government function, Rabboh said.
Stephen Willard was temporarily held in the Bergen County Jail before a judge ordered him released, under New Jersey’s 2017 Bail Reform & Speedy Trail Act, pending court action on charges of burglary, theft and criminal mischief.
While continuing their investigation, police learned that Vance and Stephen Willard “were engaged in activities [that] victimized their 84 year old elderly mother/grandmother, by failing to provide and withhold certain necessities and removing and selling items from her residence.”
They rearrested the pair, who remained held in the county lockup this time pending the outcome of elder abuse and fencing charges, in addition to the previous counts.
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