Nursing assistant charged after allegedly stealing deceased veteran’s gold wedding ring

A certified nursing assistant who allegedly stole a gold wedding band from a deceased veteran was identified and arrested after a two-week investigation, State Police said Tuesday. 

Antonio Bell, 53, of Springfield, was arrested and charged with larceny from a person over 65, larceny from a building, and receiving stolen property after he allegedly stole and pawned off a gold ring from a deceased man whom he had known for years. 

On Jan. 19, Northampton trooper Jonah Vaclavicek responded to the Veteran’s Home at Holyoke to investigate the theft of a wedding band belonging to a “recently deceased, disabled veteran,” Massachusetts State Police said said in a statement. When Vaclavicek arrived, security staff told him that the ring could’ve been stolen during the process of moving the veteran’s body to a funeral home. 

Vaclavicek conducted interviews with staff at the Veteran’s Home, funeral home, and morgue, along with the deceased veteran’s family, according to officials.

“Trooper Vaclavicek learned the exact process of end-of-life and postmortem care in order to be certain all potential avenues of the theft could be investigated,” the statement said. 

After narrowing down the timeframe between when the ring was last seen and when it went missing, Vaclavicek identified a certified nursing assistant who had known the veteran for the past three years, police said. 

Records at an area pawn shop showed Bell had recently sold a gold wedding band for $85. Further investigation by Vaclavicek determined that the ring was the veteran’s and that Bell had allegedly stolen it, according to the statement.

“Trooper Valvicek’s investigation led him to determine that wedding band had a monetary value of up to $2,000, and, more importantly, an emotional and sentimental value beyond numerical qualification,” State Police said. 

Bell was arrested after being interviewed, State Police said. Vaclavicek returned the ring back to the veteran’s family. 

Bell was given a $1,000 bail before being transported to the Hampshire County of Corrections and is scheduled for arraignment at Holyoke District Court.

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