Campbell Hall man charged in jewelry store theft


MONROE Monroe Village Police arrested a young man from Campbell Hall in connection with the theft of $2,300 worth of charms after police said he returned to Cyrus Jewelers, which had reported the crime seven weeks earlier. Det. James Frankild outlined the case like this: On May 24, Monroe Police received a call from Cyrus Jewelers about a man who went into the business and stole a tray full of charms that were on display on the counter. The jewelry was initially valued at approximately $4,000. The theft was not immediately noticed by employees but when it was, a review of the security cameras in the business showed video of a male removing the tray from the top of the display case and putting it into his jacket and leaving the store. No officers from our PD recognized the man so we put the video and still photos of the suspect out to the media, the detective said. In addition, the still photos and video were sent out to all law enforcement agencies in the lower half of the state, as well as New Jersey, to see if anyone could ID the suspect. Recently, the department received calls from both Washingtonville and Wallkill Police Departments who identified the person in the images. On July 11, officers began the paperwork for a warrant to search the suspects home for any of the stolen property as well as the clothes that were worn during the crime. As we were gathering our information for the warrant, Frankild said, we received a call from Cyrus Jewelers that the suspect had just walked back into the store. Officers immediately went to the store where the suspect was taken into custody. Jeffrey Kelly, 23, of Campbell Hall was charged with fourth-degree grand larceny after the value of the jewelry stolen was said to be $2,300. He released pending future court action. A search warrant was executed at his home; while none of the stolen jewelry was recovered, the clothing worn during the May 24 crime was recovered as evidence, Frankild said.