OTTUMWA — An Ottumwa couple’s suit against the Good Samaritan Society will go to trial next fall.

Jim and Joan Cruchelow filed the suit this past summer. They accuse the society, which owns and operates Great Oak Estates, of failing to prevent employee thefts while they lived in the housing development.

Court documents show the Cruchelows signed a rental agreement for an apartment in Great Oak Estates in March 2006. The agreement included monthly rent of $1,800 and a security deposit.

The couple lived in the apartment until February of this year. They say employees used master keys to enter the apartment between May and July of 2008 and took items belonging to the couple.

The Cruchelows argue that the Good Samaritan Society knew of employee thefts in residents’ apartments but failed to take action to stop them. They are seeking unspecified damages for negligence and invasion of privacy.

In the society’s response to the suit, it acknowledges residents, including the Cruchelows, were complaining about thefts by employees, but denies it did nothing to prevent the thefts. The society argues the employees acted outside their job responsibilities when they stole, thus absolving the Society of responsibility:

“If any theft of plaintiff’s property by employees of Defendant can be proven to have occurred, said actions were outside the scope and duty of said employee, and were not performed in the course of their employment.”

The society’s filing goes on to argue the Cruchelows and other residents had a responsibility to protect their own property and that the thefts, “if any, are the result of the fault of Plaintiffs or of other persons or entities.”

The case will go before a jury on Oct. 26, 2010. The trial is expected to last one day.

Matt Milner can be reached at (641) 683-5359 or via e-mail at mwmilner@mchsi.com