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Jewel Thief Tracked Down

By LISA A. DAVIS | The Tampa Tribune

Published: July 18, 2008

PORT RICHEY - The assistant manager at the jewelry kiosk turned her back for a moment to struggle with a display case lock, but that's all it took for a tray of valuables to disappear.
Amber Sharp was showing a tray of mostly gold necklaces to a couple March 6 at the Piercing Pagoda in Gulf View Square mall, but they decided not to buy anything, a Pasco County Sheriff's Office report states. Meanwhile, a teenager and a young man were walking around the kiosk, which made Sharp nervous because the boy was leaning over the counter "looking around at everything but the jewelry," the report states.
Sharp nervously tried to put away the tray, briefly leaving it next to the cash register while she tried to unlock the display case. When she went to grab the tray, it was gone, and so was everyone who had been near the kiosk.
On Thursday, a sheriff's detective tracked down suspect Chad Daniel Keck, 20, at traffic court in New Port Richey and arrested him on charges of grand theft and violation of the pawn brokers act. He was being held Friday at the Land O' Lakes Jail, with bail set at $10,000.
Keck was caught on video surveillance at another nearby jewelry booth, which showed him carrying away the tray of gold jewelry, the report states. When he walked by the other vendor, he waved and asked the man how he was doing.
Ifran Muhammad, who owns the other business, watched as Keck entered a light-colored pickup, noted the Marine Corps sticker on it and jotted down the tag number, the report states.
Witnesses later identified Keck from a sheriff's office photo pack, eventually catching up with him this week.
Keck, whose address isn't clear, told Detective Peter Collazo he didn't steal the necklaces but admitted he pawned three of them, the report states.
In all, 43 pieces of jewelry – mostly 10-karat gold – valued at $17,360 was stolen.