Police say South Bay house cleaner robbed clients

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. (KGO) -- Mountain View police say a woman hired through thumbtack.com to clean homes victimized the clients she was paid to work for. We're waiting to hear back from the company. Authorities say there could be more victims out there.

A Mountain View woman woke up one morning last week to find cash and belongings missing from her home. She told police she'd gone to bed with all the doors and windows locked.

"She knew the only person who had access to her home was her housekeeper," said Mountain View police department spokesperson.

She'd hired the woman through an app. Police arrested 39-year-old Sandra Cuoto, but the investigation did not end there.

"We learned that this individual had been connected to several home burglaries that we were investigating," said Nelson. "Turns out she happened to be a house cleaner at all of them."

Police say Cuoto also worked in San Jose an the East Bay. People we talked with in Mountain View said it would definitely be hard to trust a stranger in their home.

"That's scary, and that's the stuff I thought about when making a decision," said resident Cindy Martin. "Which was why it was easy to just say, 'Well, I'll go with the people who have been cleaning my parents' house.'"

To protect yourself, police recommend getting referrals when hiring a house keeper. Also, they say to be sure the person is insured, licensed and bonded. It's always a good practice to lock up valuables and cash.

Officers recovered some stolen property from Cuoto's home. They asked anyone who hired her to contact them.