FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla., Feb. 24 (UPI) -- A 96-year-old Florida man whose prized sportswriters ring was allegedly stolen and hocked by his caregiver may receive a replacement, an official said Thursday.
"We're very hopeful we're going to do the right thing this weekend" for Murray Janoff, United States Harness Writers Association First Vice President Steven J. Wolf told United Press International.
Janoff, who lives near Boca Raton, Fla., and wrote a harness racing column for the now-defunct Long Island (N.Y.) Press for four decades, received the honorary ring from the association for his 2008 induction into the Communicators Corner of the Harness Racing Museum and Hall of Fame, Wolf told UPI.
Janoff noticed his ring was missing and called the Palm Beach, Fla., Sheriff's Office Feb. 3, the office said.
Related
Lycille Delmond, 32, of Boynton Beach, Fla., who was Janoff's in-home caregiver Dec. 10-27, later admitted she stole the $900 ring and pawned it for $160, Sheriff Ric L. Bradshaw said.
The ring was then melted down, he said.
Delmond was held in the county jail Thursday, charged with exploiting the elderly under $20,000, dealing in stolen property and fraudulently pawning items.
The harness writers association happens to be holding its annual Dan Patch national awards dinner -- harness racing's biggest dinner -- in Fort Lauderdale, 20 miles south of Janoff, Sunday.
Janoff, who co-founded the association in 1947, is to be at the dinner and could receive a replacement ring, Wolf said.
The association's executive board will make the decision Friday night, he said.
"The feeling is that Mr. Janoff will not go without a ring," Wolf said.
Delmond's employer, Fort Lauderdale's FirstLantic Healthcare Inc., fired her.
