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Vernorris Rambow -
Donnitta Vaughn
Kissimmee bus driver damaged Polk video system, arrested
Polk County Sheriff ’s deputies have arrested a Kissimmee man for allegedly damaging the video surveillance system on more than one occasion.
Vernorris Rambow, 47, was arrested over the weekend and charged with felony criminal mischief. He was released from the Polk County Jail after posting $1,000 bond. According to an arrest
According to an arrest affidavit, the investigation began earlier this month when Polk County Public Schools suspected Rambow of damaging the system on four separate occasions, starting in September 2021 when the school system received a complaint regarding Rambow, and sent a specialist to retrieve the video from the on-board camera. The video could not be retrieved due to the fact that the hard drive and wires were damaged.
After incidents in November 2021 and earlier this month, safety specialists were sent to retrieve videos, but found the system was damaged and no video existed.
Detectives interviewed Rambow, who eventually admitted to them that he had damaged all four hard drives because he “did not want to get in trouble at work.” The Polk County Sheriff ’s Department said it does not appear that Rambow damaged the equipment to avoid any other crime being committed on the bus, but the investigation is ongoing. Since the
Since the damage to the drives, at $360 apiece, is more than $1,000, Rambow was charged with a felony.
“This is a shame - this school bus driver might have faced some discipline at work due to some complaints, but now he’s facing a felony conviction and may be out of a job,” Polk Sheriff Grady Judd said. “The children on his bus were better behaved than he was. We hope he’s learned his lesson.”
Kissimmee woman arrested in Polk elderly theft case
Polk County Sheriff’s Office detectives have arrested a Kissimmee woman — an elderly person’s caregiver — for her role in stealing from the older woman.
On Monday, Donnitta Jean Vaughn, 56, was arrested and charged with exploitation of the elderly, fraudulent use of credit cards, obtaining property by fraud, grand theft and criminal use of personal ID of a person over 60-years-old — all felonies.
Detectives allege Vaughn stole more than $14,000 from the 80-yearold Poinciana victim, who has dementia.
In June 2019, the victim was evaluated by her physician who recommended that she not live alone in her home, at which time Vaughn, who is a licensed Certified Nursing Assistant, was employed from June 2019 through March 2021 as the victim’s caregiver to assist with personal care, household chores, and transporting the victim to her doctor’s appointments, per the Polk Sheriff ’s report.
During her employment, Vaughn had access to the victim’s financial information, including debit and credit cards, and other personal identification information. In the final weeks of Vaughn’s employment, the victim’s friend had powerof-attorney and learned one of the victim’s credit cards was missing. After reviewing the credit card statement, she found that there had been several fraudulent charges made with the card as well as suspicious activity on the victim’s credit report.
While talking with the victim, her friend learned Vaughn had been driving the victim to the bank, where she would withdraw cash to pay Vaughn.
The friend contacted PCSO detectives, who reviewed bank statements and credit reports, and discovered Vaughn obtained $4,868 more than her agreed upon salary. They also found payments to Duke Energy which were applied to Vaughn’s personal residence account, and that Vaughn fraudulently obtained three credit cards in the victim’s name and used them to fraudulently charge nearly $10,000 to them.
According to detectives, Vaughn admitted to detectives that she felt she wasn’t getting paid enough, and knew the victim did not have the mental capacity to give permission for an increased salary, so she began using the victim’s credit cards to pay her bills and purchase other items.
“Licensed medical professionals are entrusted with caring for and protecting people during their most vulnerable moments. Instead of caring for the victim, Vaughn took advantage of her situation and stole thousands of dollars from her.” Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd said. “Thankfully, the victim’s friend called us right away, and we will do everything in our power to ensure Vaughn is held accountable.”
