Vandergrift woman accused of using elderly man's bank info to gamble, buy pizza, get a credit card

Police accused a Vandergrift woman who cared for an 81-year-old man of using his banking information to take out a department store credit card and to withdraw cash to pay for online gambling, groceries, gasoline and pizza.

Tonya Lynn Lookabaugh, 42, of the 800 block of Hawthorne Street, was charged with felony counts of access device fraud, financial exploitation of an older adult, theft and receiving stolen property. The charges are in connection with thefts that occurred between February and September of last year, according to a criminal complaint.

Lookabaugh was released from custody on a $50,000 unsecured bond. She faces a preliminary hearing before District Judge Jason Buczak on May 22, according to court records.

Police began investigating Lookabaugh in February after the man and his current caretaker told police money was missing from his bank account, according to a criminal complaint.

He told investigators Lookabaugh previously worked for him as an in-home caretaker five days a week and used his PNC Bank debit card to buy groceries and pay for his other expenses, the complaint said.

The man gave police copies of debit card statements from February to September showing more than $2,055 worth of purchases made that he didn’t authorize, investigators said.

The dates the unauthorized purchases were made were on days when Lookabaugh was shopping or running errands for the man, police said. They include withdrawals at ATM machines and purchases at Giant Eagle, Auto Zone and Montgomery Ward.

The account also was used to pay for Draft Kings online betting, to rent movies from Red Box and to visit a community health clinic, according to a criminal complaint.

Police tied Lookabaugh to the thefts by getting credit card records from Montgomery Ward that showed the billing information for the credit account was linked to the victim, but Lookabaugh’s address was used for the shipping address information, the complaint said.

Police also got a warrant to view security footage from PNC Bank ATM machines that showed Lookabaugh making cash withdrawals on the same dates that they appeared on the bank statements, the complaint said.