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Deputies: Man locks elderly woman in bathroom, steals thousands of dollars worth of jewelry

The sheriff's office says Renaldo Worthy intentionally left the woman's windows unlocked while he was working at his job for the moving company.
Credit: Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office

HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY, Fla. — The Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office says it has arrested a career criminal after he stole thousands of dollars worth of jewelry from an elderly woman's home.

Renaldo Worthy, who was working for a Riverview-based moving company, unlocked the windows of a client's home before he left for the day on July 28, deputies say.

According to the sheriff's office, he returned around 4 a.m. the next day, entered through the unlocked window, and locked the elderly homeowner in the bathroom while he stole thousands of dollars worth of her jewelry.

After Worthy, 40, left the house, the woman reportedly called the sheriff's office, prompting an investigation.

On Aug. 2, detectives say they located and arrested Worthy at a LongHorn Steak House in Brandon while he was eating dinner. 

They discovered credit cards and jewelry belonging to the elderly woman, as well as additional stolen items from a string of burglaries he had committed the previous weekend in Tampa, according to the report.

Worthy is facing multiple charges including grand theft, robbery home invasion, and false imprisonment. He is classified as a career criminal under the Florida Career Offender Registration Act, the sheriff's office said.

"Renaldo Worthy is a career criminal who clearly has not learned from his mistakes and continues to make terrible decisions," Sheriff Chad Chronister said in a statement. "Through excellent detective work, our team quickly located and arrested him, ensuring he faces serious consequences for his defiant actions. 

"We have no tolerance for this behavior in our county and we hope Worthy learns his lesson for good."

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