Former funeral home worker charged with stealing gold teeth from bodies
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A former funeral home worker in California has been charged with picking through the mouths of the dead to steal gold teeth.
Prosecutors allege that Pete Jacob Lara, a 39-year-old who worked as an embalmer at a funeral home in Lancaster, was behind a string of thefts between June 25, 2012 and Oct. 28, 2013.
They say he took teeth, a cremation urn box and medallions used to decorate urn boxes worth more than $1,000 and pawned them off, the San Gabriel Valley Tribune reports.
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Lara has been charged with removal or possession of dental gold from human remains, grand theft by embezzlement and possession of a controlled substance, methamphetamine, KTLA reports, citing the Los Angeles District Attorney’s office.
Lara pleaded not guilty in court on Wednesday and will return on Nov. 12.