\n\t\t\t\t\t\tVolusia County Sheriff Mike Chitwood strongly criticized the now former executive director of a DeBary assisted living facility, Arya at DeBary, who is accused of stealing jewelry from residents, calling the alleged crimes a betrayal of vulnerable older adults.Investigators say 46-year-old Shaun Burstein, executive director of the facility, was arrested Friday and charged after deputies uncovered what they describe as a pattern of theft from older residents.\u201cThere is not a place in hell where these scumbags can go to burn,\u201d Chitwood said. \u201cIf you are going to go out and victimize our senior community, you have no soul.\u201dResidents said they were stunned to learn Burstein had been booked into jail.\u201cI am surprised. This completely shocked me,\u201d said resident Sandy McLaughlin. \u201cFor somebody to do that and somebody in that position to do that.\u201dAccording to the Volusia County Sheriff\u2019s Office, the investigation began after the family of an 88-year-old resident reported a missing engagement ring. Detectives say surveillance video showed Burstein entering the resident\u2019s room, going directly to a jewelry box and leaving shortly afterward.\u201cThis guy just goes in there and takes valuable heirlooms,\u201d Chitwood said. \u201cThe money is not the issue \u2014 it is the value to the family.\u201dInvestigators then reviewed pawn shop records and say Burstein allegedly sold more than 93 pieces of jewelry at local pawn shops between September and December 2025, raising additional concerns that more residents may have been victimized.Deputies are now urging families with loved ones at the facility to check for missing jewelry or valuables and to report anything suspicious.The allegations have left residents questioning their sense of security.\u201cHalf the time we do not lock our doors because we feel safe here,\u201d McLaughlin said. \u201cIn fact, I did not lock it now. Maybe I should go back and lock it.\u201dThe investigation remains ongoing. Only one victim has been identified. If you or a family member believes you may be a victim, contact Detective Patel at ANPatel@volusiasheriff.gov.In a statement, the Arya human resources director, Christine Welch, said:”The safety and well-being of our residents remain our highest priority. We are cooperating fully with law enforcement authorities, and Mr. Burstein is no longer employed at the community.”\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\tDEBARY, Fla. \u2014 \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
Volusia County Sheriff Mike Chitwood strongly criticized the now former executive director of a DeBary assisted living facility, Arya at DeBary, who is accused of stealing jewelry from residents, calling the alleged crimes a betrayal of vulnerable older adults.<\/p>\n
Investigators say 46-year-old Shaun Burstein, executive director of the facility, was arrested Friday and charged after deputies uncovered what they describe as a pattern of theft from older residents.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere is not a place in hell where these scumbags can go to burn,\u201d Chitwood said. \u201cIf you are going to go out and victimize our senior community, you have no soul.\u201d<\/p>\n
Residents said they were stunned to learn Burstein had been booked into jail.<\/p>\n
\u201cI am surprised. This completely shocked me,\u201d said resident Sandy McLaughlin. \u201cFor somebody to do that and somebody in that position to do that.\u201d<\/p>\n
According to the Volusia County Sheriff\u2019s Office, the investigation began after the family of an 88-year-old resident reported a missing engagement ring. Detectives say surveillance video showed Burstein entering the resident\u2019s room, going directly to a jewelry box and leaving shortly afterward.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis guy just goes in there and takes valuable heirlooms,\u201d Chitwood said. \u201cThe money is not the issue \u2014 it is the value to the family.\u201d<\/p>\n
Investigators then reviewed pawn shop records and say Burstein allegedly sold more than 93 pieces of jewelry at local pawn shops between September and December 2025, raising additional concerns that more residents may have been victimized.<\/p>\n
Deputies are now urging families with loved ones at the facility to check for missing jewelry or valuables and to report anything suspicious.<\/p>\n
The allegations have left residents questioning their sense of security.<\/p>\n
\u201cHalf the time we do not lock our doors because we feel safe here,\u201d McLaughlin said. \u201cIn fact, I did not lock it now. Maybe I should go back and lock it.\u201d<\/p>\n
The investigation remains ongoing. Only one victim has been identified. If you or a family member believes you may be a victim, contact Detective Patel at ANPatel@volusiasheriff.gov.<\/p>\n
In a statement, the Arya human resources director, Christine Welch, said:<\/p>\n
“The safety and well-being of our residents remain our highest priority. We are cooperating fully with law enforcement authorities, and Mr. Burstein is no longer employed at the community.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Volusia County Sheriff Mike Chitwood strongly criticized the now former executive director of a DeBary assisted living facility,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":112338,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[57113,57107,57111,4561,1089,28,30,29,57110,667,7441,9058,57108,57109,2171,21762,57112],"class_list":{"0":"post-112337","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-florida","8":"tag-betrayal","9":"tag-burstein","10":"tag-debary","11":"tag-deputy","12":"tag-family","13":"tag-florida","14":"tag-florida-headlines","15":"tag-florida-news","16":"tag-former-executive-director","17":"tag-investigation","18":"tag-investigator","19":"tag-jewelry","20":"tag-living-facility","21":"tag-pawn-shop-record","22":"tag-resident","23":"tag-senior","24":"tag-valuable-heirloom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/112337","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=112337"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/112337\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/112338"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=112337"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=112337"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=112337"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}