Elderly Woman Under Arrest For Alleged House-Sitting Scheme

GLEN RIDGE, N.J. (CBS 2) -- An elderly woman is accused of being a career criminal, exploiting the trusts of her clients and robbing them blind.

The alleged scheming senior is wanted in four states and is now under arrest in New Jersey, CBS 2's Christine Sloan reports.

Upon first glance, minus the prison jumpsuit, the feisty 71-year-old woman may look like the typical grandmother-next-door. Police said, however, that Mary Ann Demmy, who appeared in a New Jersey courtroom via closed-circuit television Monday, has spent most of her adult life conning people out of money and running from the law.

Stunned prosecutors said there were four warrants out for her arrest until Glen Ridge police caught up with her this weekend.

Gabriel Weinstock said his parents became Demmy's latest victims after they hired her online to house-sit their Glen Ridge, N.J., home.

"She tried to take a credit card and tried to charge some stuff to the credit card we had in the house," Weinstock said.

The couple hired Demmy on Craigslist, where she advertised her house-sitting services. It was a quick thinking neighbor who called police after noticing Demmy wasn't watching the home at all, but leaving all of the doors and windows open.

Demmy says she last lived in Glen Rock, N.J., where no one seemed to know her. Prosecutors said she was wanted in four different states, including New York and Florida.

Her attorney said she is innocent.