Rochester woman facing felony theft charges

A Rochester woman is facing felony charges for allegedly stealing from residences while working as a housekeeper. 

Jennifer Yeo, 54, of Rochester, was arrested earlier this month on charges of possession of methamphetamine, theft of property valued between $750 and $50,000 and theft with a prior conviction, all Level 6 Felonies. 

According to court documents, the most recent arrest came after July 10, when Rochester Police officers were called to a residence in regard to a possible theft at a home. 

When officers arrived at the scene they spoke with the homeowner who claimed many things had gone missing since hiring a housekeeper six months prior. After buying a security camera in the home and reviewing the footage the homeowner discovered the housekeeper, identified as Yeo, stealing two shirts from a closet. 

The victim told police they further believed Yeo stole additional items that included $4,175 in cash and two designer handbags. 

A search warrant was served on Yeo at her residence on July 12. During the search officers discovered a substance that tested positive for meth, along with the stolen items and cash the homeowner had described. It was noted Yeo also has other several pending theft charges from this year. She was arrested July 12, and booked at the Fulton County Detention Center. 

On March 2, during a seperate incident, Yeo was accused of attempting to rent out a home she had been cleaning for and claiming to be the homeowner to the potential renters. During that incident she also allegedly scammed an elderly woman she had been cleaning for out of $2,200 in checks to help the alleged renters get a start with their deposit under misleading statements Yeo had made.

The incident landed Yeo with a Level 6 Felony Fraud charge, but no arrest was made at that time. 

On March 11, RDP was contacted about a possibly burglary that had happened the previous day at a home on Lake Manitou involving Yeo. When officers arrived on scene the homeowner claimed Yeo had been cleaning for her regularly for the past several months while the victim would leave and play cards. That day, however, the homeowner came home early and found Yeo and another man unloading items from her house into their truck. 

Upon entering her home, the victim observed more property in piles near the doorway. When questioned Yeo told the homeowner she spilled pop on the items and planned on cleaning them and returning the items once done. Among the things in the pile the homeowner could see a blue set of curtains with anchors on them, a cream colored pillow that matched the curtains and an anchor box. The homeowner further noted none of the items appeared to be damaged. 

While speaking with Yeo the man in the truck allegedly left the scene on  foot. Yeo reportedly returned several a lamp and mirror back to the homeowner before leaving the scene in a panic to locate her "friend" that had left the truck.

When Yeo left the homeowner realized many other things were missing throughout the home including a large glass bottle that contained coins money.

After the victim called Yeo to confront her about the additional missing things Yeo returned, claiming to find the other items inside her truck and blamed her friend for stealing while she had been cleaning. Other items allegedly returned to the victim included an old TV remote, several rings, a metal tin containing coins and paper foreign money and a large amount of miscelenous items taken from throughout the home that ranged from curtains to bedsheets.  

The man with Yeo at the residence was later identified as James L. Upp III, 35, of Rochester. 

The next day, on March 12, Yeo agreed to speak with an officer at her home on the situation. Yeo confirmed with police that she had been cleaning the victims home for the past four or five months and did so while the women would leave to play cards each week. She further stated she had known Upp to be involved with drugs and allegedly would contact him on occasion about making illegal purchases, with the most recent one being Suboxone, a schedule III controlled substance.

Yeo said on March 10, Upp had contacted her about borrowing her truck prompting her to give him the address she was working at so he could take the vehicle. Yeo repeated to officers she was not comfortable with Upp being at the home, fearing he would steal from her client. Yeo claimed when he returned to give her truck back she gave him a ride to E 14th St before and did not allow Upp into the home. 

Yeo claimed Upp returned a short time after and entered the home without her permission and unbeknownst to her, had been filling the truck up with items from the residence. Yeo contributed to having ear pods in and using a shop vac to not hearing Upp enter the home. 

When questioned later on March 17, Upp denied the allegations and stated he had asked to borrow the truck to put in job applications around town and saw Yeo loading the truck up with items in the home. 

After speaking with both parties and receiving statements, probable cause was found for both Yeo and Upp's direct involvement and both were charged with Burglary of a dwelling, a Level 4 Felony; and Theft where value of property is between $750 & $50k, a Level 6 Felony. 

No arrests were made for the March incidents, but the cases are still pending. Upp has a jury trial set for the case on September 29. Yeo has a jury trial set for September 8.