Exterminator Arrested, Accused in Daly City Jewelry Thefts: DA - NBC Bay Area
A Daly City man hired to kill rodents is facing felony charges after some homeowners who hired him claim thousands of dollars of their jewelry disappeared when he started working.
The San Mateo County District Attorney says 37-year-old Ivan Wojciechowski broke into two homes and stole at least $7,000 worth of jewelry from one. He also tried to break into a third person’s house, DA Steven Wagstaffe said.
Wojciechowski's victims were primarily older folks or women who live alone.
"It’s very worrisome that you can’t trust somebody that you hired to do your work," Daly City resident Jazmina Sobalvarro said.
Wojciechowski was hired as an exterminator, tasked with getting rid of rats and pests and is now accused of coming back to his customers’ homes and breaking in to steal their jewelry, Wagstaffe said.
"(One) person happened to be home at the time and saw him there and called the police," the DA said. "His excuse was 'I was just coming back to check on the traps.' And that was not at all what he was doing."
Investigators said they used social media to find more of Wojciechowski's alleged victims.
"Little bit unusual for us, and that is people were complaining about 'Watch out for this guy' on Yelp," Wagstaffe said.
On Yelp, the name Ivan Wojciechowski, independent rodent proofing contractor comes up with a three-star rating. In the reviews, several users on the page say their jewelry went missing when they hired Wojciechowski to perform exterminations at their homes.
One user claims: "Ivan stole nearly $50k in jewelry and rare coin collections as well as designer goods from my house."
Wojciechowski, who is facing three felony charges, denied the allegations. He is out of jail and expected to be in court in three days.
