A would-be thief entered an elderly resident's room at an Ormond Beach assisted living facility and an Amazon Alexa device alerted family.





When a would-be thief entered an elderly resident's room at an Ormond Beach assisted living facility, he may have thought no one was listening. But Alexa was.

Russell Bannister, 47, entered a resident's room at Brookdale Assisted Living Facility on 550 Wilmette Ave. on Sunday, Dec. 22, 2019, "without consent or knowledge" and stole cash and credit cards, Officer Keith Walker, Ormond Beach police spokesman, wrote in a statement released Thursday.

"Bannister’s presence in the victim’s room was detected by an Amazon Alexa device which alerted a family member," Walker said in a release.

The family member responded and confronted Bannister, who was still in the room, Walker said, and Bannister fled on foot. Police arrested him soon afterward.

When questioned, Bannister told officers his name was James Gowgiallo and said he was visiting Brookdale to see his aunt, Nancy Anderson, who wasn’t there, according to police body-worn camera video of the arrest. She must have been at the Port Orange facility instead, he said.

While he was there, Bannister said, he talked to a resident who told him how many years he’d been there and produced his wallet and ID to prove it. At that point, Bannister said, another man came and threatened to detain him and, when Bannister tried to get away, attacked him in the parking lot.

"I don’t want to press any charges against him," Bannister said. "I just want to be dropped. ... I want to be left alone, and go."

Bannister, on the video, assured officers he had never been arrested. But that wasn’t true.

Bannister was already notorious in the area for scamming a number of elderly Volusia County residents, billing himself as the "hurricane handyman," taking their money and never doing any of the work, according to police records.

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Bannister’s scam typically targeted the elderly with victims ranging from 70 to 85 years old, according to police. He would offer to pressure wash and paint their homes or fix a dryer, take their cash and do nothing, reports state. That’s what he did to an 84-year-old Daytona Beach man who lost $12,000, reports said.

Bannister also took two Edgewater residents, ages 75 and 71, for a total of $1,200, according to reports. Bannister is also accused of taking $1,100 from a 78-year-old woman living near Ormond Beach to do work on her house and returning but not to do the work, investigators said. Bannister instead asked her to go outside so he could check the phone and later the woman discovered $7,000 missing, a report said.

The scams occurred in 2016 but Bannister fled and was arrested in South Carolina seven months later where police said they arrested him because he was impersonating a pastor collecting money for tornado victims.

An officer on the scene commented on the discrepancies between Bannister and the photo on the driver’s license that corresponded to "James Gowgiallo."

"Lost your tan. Lost your hair. A lot of deterioration over two years," the officer said.

"That’s what meth does to you," Bannister said.

Bannister faces two charges of petty theft, two charges of burglary of an occupied dwelling, burglary with assault or battery, battery, grand theft, two counts of fleeing or attempting to elude, possession of paraphernalia, possession of a schedule II substance, and four counts of organized scheme to defraud. He is being held at the Volusia County Branch Jail without bail.

During the investigation, Ormond Beach police identified additional victims at different assisted living facilities around Volusia County, Walker said, and they believe there may be more victims.

"We are asking that family members please reach out to any loved ones who are staying in assisted living facilities in the area to ensure they have not been victimized by Bannister," Walker said.

All three of the victims who were identified by the Ormond Beach Police Department were 90 or older. If you suspect your loved one was victimized by Bannister, contact Sgt. Tom Larsen, 386-676-3520, or email m.larsen@ormondbeach.org.

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