Housekeeping employee at local hotel arrested for allegedly stealing jewelry
An employee of a local hotel was arrested Wednesday on a felony warrant for allegedly stealing jewelry from a guest’s room earlier this month.
Sierra Syon McKenzie, 23, who lists a Leeper Street address, was taken into custody around noon on
West St. Louis Street and charged with a felony count of theft of property over $5,000, punishable by up to 10 years in prison, and a misdemeanor count of unlawful transfer of stolen property to a pawnshop, punishable by up to one year in jail.
She remained in custody Thursday in lieu of $4,500 bond and is set to appear today in Garland County District Court.
According to the probable cause affidavit, on Nov. 11, a Conway couple reported a theft of jewelry from their room at The Hotel
Hot Springs &
Spa, 305 Malvern Ave. in which a Rolex watch, valued at $4,500, a white gold diamond cocktail ring, valued at
$3,500, and a white gold diamond tennis bracelet, valued at
$4,200, were taken.
A check of the key card records for the room on Nov. 10 showed the room had been entered three times by housekeeping staff, using a card issued to an employee, identified as McKenzie, between 9:02 a.m. and 4 p.m.
The room was entered using the card at 10:29 a.m., when the room was cleaned while the Conway woman was present, and then accessed again at 2:55 p.m. and 3:17 p.m. The Conway man arrived at the room at 3:05 p.m. and met a housekeeping staff member in the hallway and obtained some towels.
He told Hot Springs police he left a backpack, which contained the watch, in the room and then left at 3:15 p.m. to meet his wife at the Hot Springs Convention Center.
On Nov. 19, Detective Les Jessup searched online for transactions involving McKenzie and determined that on Nov. 16 she used her ID to sell a white gold diamond cocktail ring to Pak Plaza Pawn Shop, 2601 Central Ave., for $250.
Jessup went to the pawnshop to examine the ring and noted it matched the ring in a photo provided by the Conway couple. He spoke to a shop employee who stated McKenzie came into the store on Nov. 19 attempting to sell a Rolex watch. He said he declined to purchase the watch because he thought it might be counterfeit and did not have the tool to remove the back to check for authentication.
A warrant for McKenzie’s arrest was later issued. At the time of her arrest, she was no longer employed at the hotel.