Dental assistant charged with stealing jewelry from patients on Long Island
ROCKY POINT, Long Island (WABC) -- A Long Island dental assistant is under arrest, accused of stealing jewelry from patients.
Arieta Gouvakis, 38, worked as a dental assistant to Dr. Elliot Koschitzki at Long Island Implant and Cosmetic Dentistry in Rocky Point.
She is accused of removing jewelry worth between $1,000 and $3,000 from two patients who were being treated at the office under her care on January 31 and February 1.
The patients were in "twilight," under Nitrous oxide, Suffolk County police Chief Stuart Cameron said.
Neither patient realized their jewelry was missing until after they left the office, according to authorities.
The Suffolk County Police Property Recovery Squad recovered the stolen jewelry from local pawn shops.
The dental office cooperated fully with the investigation once they were notified of the allegations.
Gouvakis was arrested at her home in Manorville at approximately 12:30 a.m. Friday. Authorities say she has prior arrests and that her motivation may have been to feed a drug habit.
She is charged with grand larceny and criminal possession of stolen property.
Dr. Nick Augenbaum, with the dental practice, said Gouvakis was hired only three weeks ago. She has since been fired.
"As soon as we were notified by our patients, we called the Suffolk County PD," Augenbaum told Eyewitness News reporter Kristin Thorne.
He thanked Suffolk police officers for quickly recovering the patients' stolen items.
Anyone with information or other patients who think they have also been victimized by Gouvakis are asked to contact the Seventh Squad at 631-852-8752.
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