A home healthcare worker hired to care for an elderly Forest Hills couple is facing almost two dozen charges after police say she stole 10 of their credit cards and spent more than $17,500 on roughly 200 purchases over the course of a month. Crystal Flowers, 34, was confronted by investigators with a photo taken during one of the transactions, and she admitted she was the person pictured.
According to WPXI, Flowers was hired by Confiable Home Health Care to provide care for the elderly couple in Forest Hills. Police say the alleged thefts took place between Sept. 6 and Oct. 7, with Flowers using the stolen cards to make around 200 separate purchases. A manager at Confiable Home Health Care told the station the company would not make a statement or comment at this time.
Investigators say the break in the case came when they matched a photo taken at the South Side Flats Giant Eagle to a transaction made with one of the stolen cards. When confronted with that photo, Flowers reportedly admitted she was the person shown making the purchase, according to the same report. She now faces charges including fraud and identity theft, among nearly two dozen counts in total.
A Legal Framework for Access Device Fraud
Under Pennsylvania law, using someone else's credit card or other access device without authorization to obtain property or services is classified as access device fraud, according to the Pennsylvania General Assembly. When the value involved reaches $500 or more, the statute classifies the offense as a third-degree felony, the same state code shows. The alleged total in the Forest Hills case, more than $17,500, would fall well above that threshold if proven.
Flowers is also awaiting trial on a separate assault charge stemming from an incident in March, per court records cited by the station's report. That case is scheduled for trial in January 2027, the outlet reported.
Neighbors React, Call for Accountability
The station attempted to contact Flowers but found no one answered the door at the address listed on her court paperwork. A Forest Hills woman told the outlet she hoped the accused would be prosecuted and sent to jail. Another resident, Barry Tapper, said he expects lawyers will likely be involved and that procedures should change to prevent something similar from happening again.
Part of a Broader Pattern
Cases involving caregivers accused of exploiting the elderly they are paid to assist have surfaced elsewhere in recent months. In December 2025, a home health care aide and her partner were accused of stealing an 81-year-old woman's credit card information in a separate Pennsylvania case, making more than $1,200 in payments, according to NBC Philadelphia. Earlier this month, a Michigan caregiver was accused of stealing nearly $24,000 from an 86-year-old Livonia woman, as reported by ClickOnDetroit. And in Ohio, a home health aide was indicted this month for allegedly stealing a patient's prescription, according to Cleveland 19 News.
The Pennsylvania Department of Aging identifies financial exploitation as one of the most prevalent forms of elder abuse statewide, noting that it accounts for roughly 28 percent of reports of need and 17 percent of substantiated cases each year, according to the Pennsylvania Department of Aging. A separate department study examined financial exploitation cases across 14 counties over a one-year period, looking at the types of exploitation, amounts lost and the toll on victims and the commonwealth, per the department's own findings.
