Deputies arrested a Rochester woman accused of stealing nearly $4,000 in benefits from a vulnerable victim she was assigned to help.
According to the Ontario County Sheriff’s Office, Shatoya L. Heckstall, 37, was arrested on Oct. 9 at her home on Birr Street in Rochester. She’s charged with first-degree identity theft, a felony.
Investigators say the arrest followed a fraud referral from the Ontario County Department of Social Services. At the time, Heckstall was working for DePaul Community Services as a representative payee for the victim — someone tasked with managing that person’s benefits.
Instead, deputies allege she canceled the victim’s SNAP benefits card, ordered a replacement without their knowledge, and used the new card to make purchases totaling $3,770.62 at various stores in the Rochester area…