A 24-year-old Chehalis woman faces felony charges after she allegedly admitted to stealing $18,000 from a 64-year-old woman under her professional care.
Alissa May McDrummond is charged with one count of first-degree theft from a vulnerable adult, a Class B felony punishable by up to 10 years in prison and $20,000 in fines.
She made a preliminary appearance in Lewis County Superior Court on Nov. 7.
According to the probable cause affidavit filed by the Lewis County Prosecutor’s Office, Centralia police first learned of the offense when they received a referral from Adult Protective Services alleging that a 64-year-old woman “may be a victim of a theft from a caregiver.”
The affidavit indicates the Washington state Department of Social and Health Services (DSHS) had been trying to determine if the woman — who had received roughly $23,000 from a personal injury settlement — still qualified for benefits.
“When DSHS was looking into what became of the $23,000 settlement, they discovered that much of the money had been given to a caregiver, Alissa May McDrummond,” the affidavit states.
To complicate matters, the woman had recently been struck by a train and was in a coma when police began investigating.
According to the affidavit, police learned that McDrummond, the woman’s professional caregiver, had been put on leave due to theft allegations made by the woman’s daughter.
The daughter gave police a notebook from her mother’s house that detailed a written agreement between McDrummond and her mother. That agreement allegedly read:
"I Alissa McDrummond will pay $100 a month to (the woman) in cash, will keep track until amount owed is paid in full, January 2026 when taxes come pay more like 2000."
The note allegedly includes both McDrummond’s and the woman’s signatures and what appears to be the tracking of monthly payments.
On Nov. 3, police spoke to the woman after she had awoken from her coma and returned home.
According to the affidavit, the woman recalled McDrummond speaking about “money issues.”
“(The woman) said she and Alyssa (sic) went to the bank and withdrew the money (she) received from her settlement, which was around $23,000,” the affidavit states.
The woman allegedly said she gave McDrummond “$6,000 or $7,000 with the understanding that Alyssa (sic) would make payments back to her with a couple hundred dollars per month.”
She recalled McDrummond making only a couple payments of $100.
“(The woman) went on to explain that when she withdrew the settlement money from the bank, she and Alyssa (sic) hid various amounts of the remaining cash around the house in ‘nine different places,’” the affidavit states.
According to the affidavit, when the woman went to look for it again, the money was missing.
When speaking to police, McDrummond allegedly admitted to stealing around $18,000 cash from the woman.
“Alissa stated that she needed to feed her kids and that (the woman) had offered so she took it even though she knew it was wrong,” the affidavit states. “Alissa stated that she had spent all of the money (and) that she only has about $90 left in checking.”
During the preliminary hearing, Senior Deputy Prosecutor Paul Masiello noted the difficulty in recommending bail due to McDrummond’s lack of criminal or warrant history combined with the “significant amount of money that was stolen from a vulnerable person.”
Masiello ultimately requested $10,000 unsecured with standard conditions of release.
Defense attorney Rachael Tiller agreed with the request and Judge Paul Strophy granted McDrummond’s conditional release.
In other words, McDrummond won’t have to pay the $10,000 unless she fails to appear in court or follow the standard conditions.
McDrummond is scheduled for arraignment on Nov. 13. Joseph Paul Enbody will serve as her attorney.
