Woman accused of pawning stolen jewellery to help retrieve repossessed car

According to Boynton Beach police in Florida, 25-year-old Chelsey Adele Edwards stole thousands of dollars' worth of jewellery from the J.C.Penney department store where she  was the jewellery section manager, then tried to pawn them off for cash to help regain her repossessed car.

It began when a loss prevention officer at the store in the Boynton Beach Mall told police Edwards came to him with a men's necklace, ring, and bracelet in a jewellery bag that Edwards said she found in the store safe.

After the loss prevention officer told Edwards to put the items back in the safe so he could investigate it later, police say he received a tip that she had pawned off the jewellery instead of putting the jewellery back. When the officer checked the safe, only the necklace was inside.

A search by police found Edwards had pawned the other items, valued at about $1,034, at a West Palm Beach business for $500. Edwards was booked into the Palm Beach County Jail on Friday and released on Saturday on $9,000 bail, facing charges of stolen property, larceny and fraud.