Stolen jewelry worth $127,000 spurs pawn bid

BANGOR – Sheriff’s detectives were looking Friday for a man who tried to pawn some of an estimated $127,000 in jewelry taken from a Glenburn home late last month.

They also were looking for people who were near the Intown Plaza pawn shop around 2 p.m. Wednesday who may have seen the man, who was carrying a child.

The man was described as a 6-foot white male in his early to mid-30s with short, reddish hair. He was wearing a tan Dickies-type work jacket at the time, and was with a child thought to be 2 or 3.

“That is a lot of jewelry,” said Detective Robert Jordan of the Penobscot County Sheriff’s Department. Items taken from the home included rings, necklaces, bracelets, earrings, watches – “everything from a Rolex to Tiffany.”

The man believed to have been the burglar walked Wednesday into Cash-X-Press at the Intown Plaza on Harlow Street and asked the clerk behind the security glass if the company bought gold. When the clerk said yes, the man left and quickly returned with the child and a small pile of jewelry.

“They [Cash X-Press] have a partition of bulletproof glass and the suspect slid [the jewelry] under the glass,” Jordan said. “The clerk asked him if it was stolen, and the suspect fled the store with the child and left the jewelry behind.”

Police had distributed a list of the stolen items from Glenburn to area pawn shops after the break-in.

“I give [the clerk] credit for taking the time to keep the inventory list and taking the time to go over it,” Jordan said.

The pawn shop has a video security surveillance system, but it was not turned on, Chief Deputy Troy Morton said Friday.

The estimated value of the items recovered is around $17,000 to $18,000, based on prices provided by the victim, Jordan said, adding that there are receipts for many of the stolen items.

Those items have been returned, the detective said.

The break-in occurred while the Glenburn victims were on vacation out of state. The couple left March 21 and returned March 29 to find their home near Pushaw Lake had been burglarized.

Anyone with information about the burglary or who was in the Intown Plaza at the time of the incident is asked to contact Jordan at 947-4585.

nricker@bangordailynews.net

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