ST. LOUIS — More trouble from a senior nursing care facility in North St. Louis that closed abruptly right before Christmas.
Residents at Northview Village Nursing Home had to leave quickly without any of their personal belongings. Now, thieves are stealing the things they left behind.
The sudden closure of Northview Village on Dec. 15, with no notice to employees, residents, or their families, displaced more than 170 residents and left more than 180 employees without a job.
Since then, VOYCE, a St. Louis agency advocating for quality care in nursing homes, says looters have been stealing residents’ personal belongings, their televisions, and things of value.
"The Saturday after the facility closed, one of VOYCE's staff members and a volunteer were down helping families reunite and help make sense of the situation," Marjorie Moore, VOYCE’s executive director said, "While they were there, they saw a few people going through the facility, walking into rooms, taking things like televisions, and walking out of the facility with them."
The theft was still happening Thursday as 5 On Your Side’s crews witnessed an altercation outside Northview Village on Thursday when a woman walked into the building trying to get away with stolen items.
Thankfully, Christopher Valentine, a former employee at Northview Village for nearly 22 years, was there to stop her.
"I didn't like how she just came up trying to argue, talking about our boss is in the wrong. No, you're in the wrong because you don't even belong here, and these are resident’s stuff," Valentine said. "There are still people out here that want their stuff. What she did was uncalled for. You have to have some type of human decency out here."
Valentine said many situations like that have been happening since the sudden closure.
"This building is condemned, you do not belong here. If you don't work here or you're not trying to get the stuff for the residents, you do not belong here at all."
Grand Manor nursing home, where Valentine also works, has taken in 25 of the displaced residents, with more supposed to be coming to live there. Valentine and other employees spent the day packing up all their belongings.
"These are still residents’ stuff. These residents, this is all they got, so yeah they want their stuff," Valentine said.
Moore said her team reported they witnessed theft at Northview Village to police. Since then, St. Louis Police Department put out a Real Time Crime camera in front of the building.
"As I understand, there's additional thefts that are happening and so, the cameras can only do so much," Moore explained. "It helps us identify who's doing this, but it doesn't necessarily stop people from doing that.”
VOYCE is partnering with other local agencies including the St. Louis Area Agency on Aging, the St. Louis City Senior Fund, and the Mental Health Board, and many more are working together to replace some of the items that residents were unable to retrieve. They’ll deliver items to former residents sometime next week.