Home assistant accused of robbing from blind man

ORLANDO, Fla. (FOX 35 Orlando) - William Denehy is a lot of things. He's a father, a veteran, a former professional baseball player, and he's blind.

He can also add crime victim to that list. It started when his daughters hired Donna Santella to be his home assistant.

“My two daughters who are in Los Angeles got on the internet and found this site,” Denehy said, “they interviewed a bunch of people over the phone and got a bunch of people to come in for interviews, and she was one of the people who came in.”

He said they got off to a good start, but then he started noticing red flags, like when she learned about his investments.

“She said you're not getting the kind of return you should, I worked at an investment broker's office, if you want to give me about $10,000 in stocks and bonds, I can double your money in a couple of months,” he said.

There was also the time when he lent $6,000 dollars to help buy a new car.

“When she finally shows up with a check, she made some payments on the $6,000, she finally comes up with a check for $5,100. The check bounced,” he recalled.

With access to Denehy's credit cards and passwords, by the time Santella disappeared on Denehy, police say she'd charged more than $20,000 on his cards. Police arrested Santella, charging her with grand theft, writing bad checks, and exploiting the elderly. Denehy wants to warn others.

“Make sure you go through an agency, licensed agency that can vet the person and make sure they don't have criminal charges from their past on here, and also are bonded,” he said.

Denehy is using an agency to get a new home assistant. He says if he ever met Santella again, he'd only like to ask her, "Why?"