The Las Vegas police have arrested a woman who stole a coffin with a body in it from a funeral home. The woman said that she was drunk at the time and had no recollection of the happening.
The Woman Dumped the Body Outside
On August 27, Patricia Sierra, 47, broke into the Affordable Cremation & Burial funeral home at 2127 W. Charleston Boulevard and stole a coffin containing a human body.
Surveillance footage showed the woman breaking through a window and unlocking the front door before proceeding to enter the property’s viewing room and wheel a coffin outside. Sierra apparently dumped the body outside the funeral home. After that, she left the coffin as well and fled the crime scene.
At around 3:30 am, 911 received a report of a body lying in front of Affordable Cremation & Burial. Authorities rushed to the scene and identified the deceased remains. They learned that the body had arrived at the funeral home on August 20 and had had a viewing day before being stolen and thrown outside.
The police then started looking for the culprit who was identified not long after the crime.
The Woman Was Drunk at the Time
A citizen contacted the police two days after the incident. The caller had recognized the woman while she was shopping at a local convenience store. The authorities arrived promptly, arresting Sierra.
Sierra admitted that the woman on the surveillance footage was her but said that she had no memories of the accident. She told the police that she had drank six beers before the accident and added that alcohol often makes her black out.
Sierra apologized for the incident, emphasizing that it had not been prompted by malice. Despite that, the woman faces charges of burglary, grand larceny and disturbing human remains. As of the time of this writing, she remains in custody with her bail set at $11,000.
A preliminary hearing has been scheduled for September 18.
In other news, a Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department officer was put under arrest in the Clark County Detention Center a few days ago. The officer was accused of abusing his power after several “questionable” and allegedly abusive arrests that targeted Las Vegas Strip tourists.
