BUHL — Police say a Jerome woman neglected and stole from an elderly man she was supposed to be a caretaker for.

Mindy Lopez, 38, was arraigned recently on misdemeanor charges of abuse or neglect of a vulnerable adult and petit theft.

Police began investigating in February after reportedly found the elderly man’s wallet among Lopez’s things; she had been arrested on a separate charge and police were inventorying her property.

Lopez told officers that she was the man’s caretaker and had permission to have his wallet. A visit to the man’s home confirmed Lopez was his caretaker, but the man told police he didn’t know why she would have his wallet.

The man, who was confined to a hospital bed in his living room, said he had suffered a stroke and was mostly paralyzed on his left side.

He told police that Lopez would often leave him for hours at a time, leaving the house in the morning and not returning home until the evening or later. During that time, the man said, Lopez would sometimes leave him without any water to drink.

Because he was unable to leave his bed to use the bathroom without assistance, the man collected his urine in a pitcher on his nightstand, police said.

The man told police it had been four days since Lopez got him out of bed and he had developed a bedsore. He also mentioned that Lopez didn’t always give him his medicine.

He was taken to St. Luke’s Magic Valley Medical Center for treatment, where it was determined that he had a bladder infection.

Lopez was jailed on a $25,000 bond. A pretrial hearing is scheduled for Aug. 7.