Home Nurse, Boyfriend Accused of Robbing Tulsa Woman Arrested

Tulsa Police arrest a home nurse and her boyfriend accused of robbing a 74-year-old woman inside her home.

Investigators say Rikkeita Strong was one of the nurses hired to take care of the victim, but instead, she and her boyfriend snuck into the victim’s house in the middle of the night and attacked her.

The victim tells us she feels violated by the very people she's supposed to be able to trust. We agreed to protect her identity.

She says has several medical issues, she can barely walk and requires 16 hours of care at her home. She was in bed in the middle of the night, trying to fall asleep when a man wearing a mask walked into her bedroom and threw a sweater over her face.

“Stuffed it over my eyes and put both his hands over my nose, his fingers up my nose, covered my mouth,” said the victim.

Tulsa Police robbery detectives arrested Rikkeita Strong and her boyfriend Brett Bills after they say the two stole jewelry and medical marijuana from the victim. The victim says when Bills threw the sweater over her face, she thought she was going to suffocate.

"I got his fingers out of my nose and said please don't hurt me, take whatever you want,” said the victim.

Police say they later learned there had been at least 30 different home health care workers in and out of the victim's home. So, as they started looking into the workers as possible suspects, they found a very similar case in January.

"Two people had been charged with a larceny but it had the exact same MO where the female was a home healthcare worker, had been working at another victim's residence, and over a time period jewelry and items started showing up missing,” said Lieutenant Justin Ritter with the Tulsa Police robbery unit. 

Police say in that case, the victim had surveillance cameras inside their home, and caught Bills and Strong on camera going through drawers. Police then learned the two suspects had been pawning jewelry at a local pawn shop, including the current victim's distinct class ring.

"The victim in a case like this is so vulnerable. For somebody to come in and just prey on them, knowing they're vulnerable, not only taking their items but to put a blanket over their face and use it as a weapon. It's as low as I can think of,” said Ritter.

Lieutenant Ritter says if there are more victims, they need to file a police report. He also encourages families to do their research when hiring people to take care of loved ones.