CENTER TWP — An internal sting nabbed a resident care aide suspected of stealing money from patients’ rooms at an assisted living facility in the township, state police said.

Lori Ann Buzzard, 45, of Butler faces a preliminary hearing May 14 on two misdemeanor counts of theft.

Police last week charged Buzzard in the case they began investigating in late-Februrary at Newhaven Court at Clearview where $60 turned up missing from a 94-year-old woman’s room.

A relative told troopers that the money was in the woman’s purse and was stolen between Feb. 22 and 27, according to court documents.

Later, more thefts from other patients at the facility were reported. During the investigation, police said, Buzzard emerged as a suspect.

Eventually, according to a police affidavit, Newhaven Court authorities took action “to figure out which employee was stealing the money.”

The facility put $20 in a wallet, which was placed on the dresser of a patient’s room. On March 26, police said, the bait money was taken from the wallet.

The next day, troopers interviewed Buzzard at the barracks. She confessed to taking $15 out of the wallet, documents said

Additionally, police said, she admitted taking $20 from the purse of the 94-year-old patient. She denied any of the other thefts.

The defendant allegedly told police that she used the stolen money to buy gas.

A message left with Brenda Daubner, executive director at Newhaven Court, was not returned Wednesday.