A 42-year-old Tustin Burger King employee faces theft charges after police say he repeatedly stole money from a mentally disabled woman at the fast-food restaurant in Irvine.
Police accuse Luis Maximino Lucero Ballinas of stealing money from the 38-year-old woman several times over the past few months when she ate her lunch at a Burger King at Culver Drive and Walnut Avenue, Irvine police said.
The woman only ventured out a short distance from her home to walk to Burger King for lunch, police said.
About six months ago, the woman’s parents who take care of her, began noticing that she was coming home without any change.
Initially, her parents thought she had either lost or forgotten the change. But eventually they became suspicious, fearing someone was taking advantage of her disability and was stealing her money.
The family notified police, who began taking their lunches at the Burger King. Detectives saw the suspect pocket the woman’s money twice in the time they ate their lunches there and believe the suspect had been stealing from her for months, police said.
Police believe the suspect knew she was disabled, making it more likely he wouldn’t be caught, police said.
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Ballinas was booked on a misdemeanor theft charge against a dependent adult at the Orange County Jail.
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