Crime & Safety

More Than $500K in Jewelry Stolen in Burglary

A man and a woman were arraigned Thursday afternoon in the City of Grosse Pointe in a case involving the theft of more than $500,000 in jewelry. The case is still under investigation and some of the jewelry has been recovered.

Two people were arraigned Thursday afternoon in the court on felony charges of receiving stolen property stemming from a weekend burglary in which more than $500,000 in jewelry was stolen from a home on Lincoln.

The pair—Joshua A. Sedgeman and Alaina R. Robinson—are each facing up to 10 years in prison if convicted. The charge is receiving and concealing more than $20,000 in stolen property. In addition to prison, each could face up to $15,000 in fines or three times the value of the stolen property, whichever is greater. 

Both were arrested Tuesday at a Chase Bank branch on Cadieux Road at Harper Avenue while trying to cash a sizable check issued to them from a pawn shop, City Director of Public Safety Stephen Poloni said. 

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The burglary was reported Monday by a woman who was caring for the house while the residents were out of town. She discovered someone entered the house through a window, Poloni said.

Upon their return home, the residents discovered and alerted detectives to what was missing. City Judge Russell Ethridge arraigned Sedgeman and Robinson, during which he mentioned that they received more than "half a million dollars" in stolen jewelry.

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Quick, excellent detective work by detectives Alan Gwyn and Christopher Lee are what led to the arrests so quickly, Poloni said following the arraignment Thursday.

After the caretaker of the home reported the crime, they processed the house for evidence and then began trying to locate the jewelry, Poloni said. Jewelry was recovered from two pawn shops, he said.

Detectives put a stop on the check one of the pawn shop's issued to the pair and asked bank employees to alert police if they came in to cash it, Poloni said, which is how they came to be arrested.

Since, both have been in custody and were described as cooperative by Lee in court to the judge when asked about bond. Robinson has no criminal history, and Lee recommended she be released on a personal bond, which requires no payment of money unless she fails to appear. 

Sedgeman has a previous conviction for the same crime as well as a possession of marijuana conviction, Lee told the judge.

Ethridge granted a $50,000 personal bond for Robinson after her mother explained she had never been in trouble before and had only recently met Sedgeman. She also explained that she will do whatever necessary to ensure her daughter makes all court appearances.

Then he set a $50,000 cash surety bond with a 10 percent requirement for Sedgeman, who asked if the amount could be lowered. Ethridge denied the request and explained his concern that Sedgeman would be a flight risk given his prior criminal history with the same crime.

Sedgeman tried to plead with the judge, explaining that he was unaware the jewelry was stolen and was not the person who stole it. Ethridge told Sedgeman a 3 a.m. call should have tipped him off to the fact that something was not quite right with the situation.

Both are set to return to court for their preliminary exam hearings Sept. 20.

Following their arrests at the bank, the Grosse Pointe-Harper Woods SWAT team named the Special Response Team, raided two homes—one in Harper Woods and one in Detroit, Poloni said. 

The raids resulted in the arrests of two more men, one of whom was released after being determined to not be involved in the crime. The other is still being held and under investigation, Poloni said.

In addition to the two additional arrests, police recovered more of the stolen jewelry as well as narcotics, Poloni said. He could not make an estimate about how much jewelry had been recovered but said there is still jewelry that has not been found.


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