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Vacationing Couple Returns To Find They’ve Been Ripped Off
July 18, 2011
A Molino couple returned from vacation recently to find out the 18-year old they trusted to watch their house had, instead, allegedly ripped them off.
Nicholas Allen Jones, age 18 of Molino, is facing a felony count of grand theft and eight felony counts of dealing in stolen property.
A Molino couple told Escambia County Sheriff’s deputies that Jones was watching their property and collecting their mail while they were on a two-week vacation. When the couple returned home, the wife noticed her iPod was gone. After checking the house, she found the couple was missing $7,080 worth of jewelry.
According to the Sheriff’s Office, there was no sign of forced entry, and the wife said Jones was the only person with key to the house.
Deputies were able to determine that many of the items were pawned at The Gold Xchange, Elite Jewelers and Kernel Enterprises in Pensacola. When asked why he took the items and pawned them, Jones told deputies “I don’t know”, according to the arrest report.
Jones was released from the Escambia County Jail on $19,500 bond. He is scheduled to be arraigned on August 4.
Comments
23 Responses to “Vacationing Couple Returns To Find They’ve Been Ripped Off”
Concerned Parent that is exactly what is wrong with kids these days. Parenting skills have gone by the wayside and they do not care about how their kids turn out.
I am not a very religious person, but I will borrow from the Bible in Proverbs where it says “Train up an child in the way that he should go and when he is old he will not depart from it.” Or as Socrates said, “A child is born as a blank slate and we as parents write upon that slate what they will become.”
Oh, good grief, LEO! You can’t sit there and say “maybe his parents should have taught him better” because you have no clue WHAT they taught him. They probably DID teach him right from wrong. However, sometimes it doesn’t matter what you do with a child, he’s gonna turn out just the opposite of how you raised him. I’ve seen kids from fantastic homes and parents turn out to be horrible people and I’ve also seen kids from broken and abusive homes with dopehead parents who couldn’t care less WHAT their kids do who turn out to be the best people you could ever hope to meet. To try to blame it on the parents is asinine because the kid is 18 and knows better than to steal, no matter WHAT his parents taught him.
As the old saying goes, he needs to rise above his raisings.
@mom: Then maybe his parents should have done a better job of raising him and taught him right from wrong. That just because someone entrusts you with a key to their house to watch over while they are gone, does not give you carte blanche permission to take advantage of them.
Get real, people do do stupid things and when they do they should be castigated for it, if it affects the family members, then so be it.
Oh well, if he’s from a good family, that makes it all okay.
hey you people need to give it a rest.This young man is someone child,grandchild or relative.You hurt them not the person with your comments.You dont know the truth either before you pass judgement.I know rthis boy and his from good family.all people make mistakes some bigger than others.
@Dan: I can assure you that any reputable pawn broker will check if items are stolen. However, I the items are not reported as stolen and there is no police report has been made, there is no way for the pawn broker to know that the items are stolen. He can suspect that they are till the cows come home, but that does not make it so.
As I said iin an earlier post, the pawn brokers are the big losers in this because since the property was stolen, the owners file for ownership and the police place a 90 day hold on them, then the pawn broker can either go to court or surrender the property. They take a chance by going to court because if they loose they would probably be responsible for court costs as well. The smart thing to do is surrender the items as soon as the letter of ownership is received.
Sounds like the pawn shops weren’t checking for stolen items.
They should be punished too !
Hey! I remember this boy from school, I think….
regarding:
CENTURY 1
“You folks, why don’t you just call each other or meet at the coffee shop if you want to carry on a conversation instead of just making a statement.”
Does their response to responses harm you in ANY way whatsoever? After all, you did it too, so you MUST have thought it justified for YOU to do it.
Correcting errors and bad judgment is a good thing.
Discussing events and dangers is a good thing
Drinking coffee…..well some of us don’t like coffee.
As to commenting on the article, ” – - – find out the 18-year old they trusted to watch their house – - – “:
Just deciding to trust someone doesn’t automatically make that person worthy of your trust. It’s good for others to discover this so they might be more careful as well lest they also suffer loss.
David for good house-sitters
and good neighbors
You folks, why don’t you just call each other or meet at the coffee shop if you want to carry on a conversation instead of just making a statement.
@tallyho: Florida Statute 539.001 The Florida Pawnbroking Act is the guide on how to get your stolen goods back from a pawn shop. You must file a first file a police report and then within 30 days of the pawn shops receipt of the property, you must file for ownership via certified mail. Have the police submit a 90 hold on the property so that the pawn shop is forbidden to sell it. If need be file a lawsuit or obtain an ownership court order. In most cases the pawn shop will surrender the property to you voluntarily because if it goes to court, the in all likelihood would loose and would also have to reimburse your court costs. So most of them will just absorb the lose.
So no, the owner does not have to buy back their property that has been stolen. The big losers in a case like this are the pawn brokers.
tallyho, No the pawn shop does not make out, the merchandise is confiscated and the pawn shop looses money. The merchandise is returned to the owner at no cost.
@tallyho, the big losers in this is the pawn shops. When a pawn shop deals with stolen property and it is proven to be stolen, the pawn shop must surrender it as evidence. The owners do not have to buy it back. If a pawn broker knowingly buys stolen property, he can be charged with a crime also.
This kid is just plain STUPID! I’ll bet the judge will slap his hand & let him go with probation..If I was the homeowner..I’d make sure he payed for his stupidity after he is released. A lil rough justice….
Jimd. We are in America. Everyone gets a trial.
JimD, If i am correct, the laws are based on past crimes, and past crimes are referenced to the present crimes. And to Trust this guy with the house, how do we know that the story is completely true? We as the public do not know the entire story, nor do we know the (victims). Maybe the Victims (look) worse than this young man. Anyway, we’ll sit and wait for the facts……
Mopman …. because you have keys to someones house no way implies that you have permission to dispose of THIER property!
And yes he looks to me like he has been on a binge of some kind, un-naturally skinny…….. At least they can get thier stuff back.
Eighteen, this person should know right from wrong. I don’t know if not an answer. Society should start making people responsible for their actions, rather than making excuses for them.
If he admitted it, then why is there a need for trial? Send him before a judge for sentencing, before some liberal lawyer or trial judge tries to bring up something from the last to justify the present. We already had one fantasy trial in Florida let a murder go free….we have to start somewhere bring the rule of law back. Life is not a video game, and there is no reset button for the people that do wrong.
I agree with littlerainy, Eighteen, fast money and he thought he would not get caught. “Stupid is as stupid does.” Now Stupid needs to pay the price.
Its there fault, he shouldn’t be charged he had keys remember (LESSON LEARNED )
He doesn’t know, give me a break. Fast easy money, and he thought he could get away with it. Thats why.
I bet the pawns shop made out. You have a 18 year old coming in with that much jewelry and the owner of the pawn shop thinks its his stuff. And the owner has to buy it back. There needs to be something done with this kind of deals.
He don’t know why he took the items??? Well genius, for your trouble, how about three hot and a cot and some time to think about it?
I don”t think I would let someone that looks like this tend my house while I was gone. He”s either has a eating disorder or a meth problem. Go figure.
Momma said never judge a book by its cover, but as much as I love Her, sometimes She is wrong!