FL - Burglars Use Baby To Steal From Elderly

OCALA --

A Marion County couple has been arrested after investigators said they used a baby to help them burglarize senior citizens' homes.

Pat Barmes, 70, of Ocala, said she was watering her flowers when a man approached her about problems with her driveway.

"He said he could fix this crack and he could fix these little potholes, and I thought it was going to cost me $30," said Barmes.

A few minutes later, after the man sprayed what Barmes described as gray dust all over the driveway of her Northwest 40th Avenue home, he told her it would actually cost $1,000.

"Finally, he said $300, and if it was a check, it had to be made out to cash," Barmes recalled.

She later figured out the real reason the man were there was to try to get inside her home. In the midst of the job, he asked to use the bathroom. That was when Barmes said the man's wife got out of a truck with a baby and asked to get a drink of water.

"A normal person would think, 'They can't be crooks; they've got a baby,'" said Barmes.

But she got suspicious, and told the woman with the baby she would send them more money if she provided her a name and number.

After the couple left, she found that the couple had taken off with two of her rings.

Neighbors across the street said they had pills stolen during their driveway repairs. They were still trying to clean up the mess left behind on Wednesday.

Barmes delivered the bad news to the couple over the phone, herself.

"I said, 'I've already put a stop payment on it, and the police are looking for you, and they know you went into old people's houses with a scam game and you are robbing them,'" said Barmes.

Detectives finally tracked down 22-year-old Willie Jeffery and 21-year-old Norma Jean Jeffery. The couple has been charged with child neglect, and Willie Jeffery was also charged with drug posession. Marion County detectives said the couple also face multiple grand theft charges.

The couple also did tree removal work, detectives said. If you think you were victimized by Willie and Norma Jean Jeffery, call the Marion County Sheriff's Office at (352) 438-5920.

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Rosalee Hickox said she was too trusting earlier this week when a man and woman with their kids knocked on her door..

Police said the couple, Norma and Willie Jeffery, acted overtly religious. At one point, one of them pointed to a picture of praying hands and even asked to pray with Hickox.

While all these distractions from the kids to the praying were going on, police say they swiped thousands of dollars in jewelry from a jewelry box.

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Hickox recently received some good news, almost a year and a half after she was robbed.

One of the scammers, Norma Jean Jeffery (pictured, below), is now in jail and the judge is making her pay back the $320 she stole from Hickox.

Police were also able to track down Hickox's stolen jewelry.

"Oh, I am so pleased," said Hickox. "They're worth a million to me because my son's been dead for 14 years, my husband, 26."

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Two people are in the Smith County jail after fleeing the scene of a wreck Tuesday night with a young child in tow....

The 3-year-old child was taken to East Texas Medical Center for treatment and later released to family members. McElyea confirmed the child was okay.

The man, identified as 24-year-old Willie Anthony Jeffrey of Lindale, was charged with abandon/endanger of a child/criminal negligence and accident involving injury. He also has outstanding warrants in other Texas counties and in Marion County, Florida. Jeffrey is currently in the Smith County jail on over $100,000 in bonds.

The woman, identified as 33-year-old Rosemary Frame, of Tyler, was charged with abandon/endanger of a child/criminal negligence. She is currently in the Smith County jail on a $5,000 bond.

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