Fresno County Sheriff’s detectives have arrested 33 year old Alicia Pfalzgraff of Fresno.
She was booked into the Fresno County Jail on October 12, 2016. She faces multiple felony charges of financial elder abuse and identity theft. Her bail has been set at $215,000.
The break in this case came on June 10, 2016. This is when an employee at an assisted living center reported to the Fresno County Sheriff’s Office that there may be a case of financial elder abuse taking place. These concerns were raised due to Alicia Pfalzgraff not paying for the 91 year old victim’s prescribed medication, as well as being consistently late with monthly care payments. On September 2, 2016, the victim passed away of natural causes.
Detectives collected information which showed that in 2011, Alicia Pfalzgraff was designated as the elderly woman’s Power of Attorney for her bank account. Pfalzgraff, who was an acquaintance of the victim, agreed to take care of the then 85 year old woman due to her deteriorating health. This was a paid position, which included responsibilities such as taking the victim to appointments and picking up her medications. It did not require Pfalzgraff’s full time attention.
In 2011, the victim moved out of her home located on the 7200 block of N. First Street in Fresno and into an assisted living center. At this time, the victim granted Pfalzgraff permission to stay in her home, rent free, in order to keep an eye on the house. Pfalzgraff was to use her gained access to the victim’s bank accounts in order to take care of household expenses. However, over the next five years, Pfalzgraff would go on to steal tens of thousands of dollars from the victim’s accounts. She opened credit card accounts using the victim’s name and also represented herself as the victim’s granddaughter to sell the victim’s 1963 Chevy Impala to a citizen for $25,000.
During the course of this investigation, the victim’s home on the 7200 block of N. First St. caught fire. This occurred on August 23, 2016 at about 4:00 am. The garage was completely destroyed and the rest of the house sustained serious damage. Fresno firefighters first responded to this location around 2:00 am to extinguish a tree that had caught fire in the front yard of the house next door. Firefighters left and then had to return about two hours later to put out the house fire. Investigators later determined the cause of the house fire to possibly be arson.
On October 4, 2016, this same house caught fire again. Firefighters responded and extinguished it around 11:00 pm. Both fires remain under investigation.
Detectives continue to build their case and are asking the public for any additional information they may have about Pfalzgraff, such as if they have had personal contact with her. It should be noted that Pfalzgraff recently maintained a job at the IRS Service Center in downtown Fresno. Detectives are also requesting any information surrounding the nature of the fires and would like to hear from the public if they saw any suspicious behavior around the house prior to it catching fire. Please contact Fresno County Sheriff’s Detective Skip Swain at (559) 600-8025. You may also call Crime Stoppers at (559) 498-STOP (7867). All tips will remain anonymous and you may be eligible for a cash reward.
