Daily Local News (West Chester, PA)
DA, police, announce creation of website for victims to find jewelry
Victims from Chester, Delaware and Montgomery counties are being asked to search a website for stolen jewelry, coins and precious metals – all evidence recovered as a result of arrests from a burglary ring.
Montgomery County District Attorney Kevin R. Steele, Lower Merion Township Police Superintendent Michael J. McGrath, Abington Police Chief John A. Livingood and other law enforcement personnel announced the creation of the website, which has thousands of pieces of evidence including watches, rings, bracelets and earrings on display.
If victims see their stolen property, they should contact law enforcement.
“These four defendants – Kebbie Ramseur, Jerrel Jaynes, Shron Linder and Ralph Mayrant – were involved in a corrupt organization that burglarized high-end homes, stealing money, jewelry and designer purses, then worked with jeweler Wasim Shazad to fence the jewelry,” Steele stated in a prepared release issued Thursday. “When law enforcement served a search warrant on Shazad’s three jewelry stores and home, about 50,000 pieces of jewelry, coins and precious metals were recovered. We want to find the rightful owners of as many pieces of jewelry and other items as possible and be able to return them as soon as the prosecution will allow.”
The defendants are charged in 15 burglaries - one in Chester County, six in Delaware County and eight in Montgomery County. The burglaries occurred between 2013 and July 2016, and the victims suffered a combined loss in excess of $1.5 million.
The Montgomery County D.A.’s Office will prosecute the 15 burglaries that occurred in Pennsylvania. Charges against the five defendants include corrupt organizations, burglary, theft, robbery and conspiracy. The defendants are also suspects in burglaries in Cherry Hill, N.J., and in New Castle County, Del.
“We believe these individuals may have been involved in additional burglaries, and sharing the jewelry photos and other photos is not only the right thing to do to help victims recover their property, but it also could help us locate additional burglaries tied to the defendants,” Steele stated.
The website can be accessed at http://www.montcopa.org/JewelryWebsite or from the home pages of the Montgomery County D.A.’s Office (www.montcopa.org/ da), Lower Merion Police (www. lowermerion.org/services/policedepartment) or Abington Police (www.abington.org). More than
1,600 photos are on the website with most photos containing multiple pieces of jewelry and other items. The evidence is organized on a spreadsheet with descriptions and accompanying photos.
If a victim of a robbery or burglary locates one of their stolen pieces of jewelry, they should contact Lower Merion Police Officer Cynthia Yoder at cyoder@lowermerion.org or 610-645-6238 and be prepared to provide the specific number listed in the name of the photo on the website, a brief description of the item and its location on the website. Victims who reach out to Yoder will also have to provide evidence that the item belongs to them in terms of the name of the police department that investigated the burglary/incident.
“I want to caution dishonest people about making false claims to this jewelry if it is not yours. That is illegal, and if you do, you will be prosecuted for making false reports to law enforcement,” Steele stated.
The five defendants were arrested and charged after a lengthy investigation that involved multiple law enforcement agencies, including police from Abington, Lower Merion and Whitemarsh in Montgomery County; Marple, Media, Newtown and Radnor in Delaware County; Kennett Square in Chester County; as well as the New Castle County Detective Bureau in Delaware and Cherry Hill police in New Jersey.