Grandma Locked In Chesco Basement By Housemates: Police

PHOENIXVILLE, PA—Two men are accused of locking a grandmother in the basement of a northern Chester County home where the three resided, taking her Social Security funds, and trying to get her to sign away the deed to the house she owned, according to police.

Christopher Ruse, 24, and David Frame, 37, are waived a hearing Wednesday before District Judge John Hipple near Pottstown on charges of unlawful restraint, tampering with evidence, theft by unlawful taking, and conspiracy.

The victim, Paula Diarcangelo, 64, who was Ruse’s grandmother, passed away on Jan. 13.

A formal arraignment is scheduled on June 15.

According to a report in the Philadelphia Inquirer:

In March 2022, the victim's daughter, Christina DiArcangelo, told police that the two suspects were mistreating her mother.

Officers went to the victim’s home on Ridge Road and found Frame and Ruse agitated and evasive.

Police said a toilet and shower installed there did not work, and sewage was seeping up from the floor, within feet of the bed where Paula DiArcangelo was sleeping.

The victim's daughter also said Frame often locked her mother in the basement with no way of leaving.

Christina DiArcangelo said the two gave her mother water and pizza to eat and broke her cell phone so she couldn’t contact anyone.

While the elder DiArcangelo was locked in the basement, police said, Frame stole a debit card connected to her Social Security account and used it to rent more than $600 worth of couches, big-screen TVs, and other furnishings from Rent-A-Center.

They also spent more than $1,000 of her money on car insurance payments to State Farm, according to police.