Published: September 19, 2008 09:01 pm      

Jewelry, valuables taken from home

In two unrelated incidents, more than $32,000 in valuables were stolen this week from a Richmond city home and 21 lights were brazenly taken from an area motel.

The Richmond Police Department was summoned Tuesday evening to a residence on Farmington Court to investigate a reported burglary.

Police arrived at the location at 7:45 p.m. and found that the residence had been broken into during the daytime hours and a number of items of jewelry and other valuable removed.

“Entry to the residence was gained by breaking the glass in the rear door,” Reardon said.

The victims reported numerous gold rings, gold bracelets and gold necklaces missing from the residence.

In addition, an imported smoking pipe and blank checks were stolen, Reardon said, bringing the approximate value of the missing property up to $32,000.

Earlier that day, RPD officers were called to La Quinta Inn, 1751 Lexington Road, at 10:40 a.m. to investigate a reported theft of lighting from the building.

When officers arrived on the scene, they learned that 21 lamps had been removed from the brick wall that surrounds the hotel.

“It appeared that the lamps had been cut from their mounted positions,” Sgt. Willard Reardon said.

A witness was located in the area who said while he had been walking in the area an hour before the police arrived, he had noticed a white male cutting the lamps free and loading them into the back of a pickup truck.

“The witness assumed that the man was an employee since he was doing this in the middle of the day,” Reardon said.

The lamps were valued at approximately $100 each.

The suspect was described as a white male, approximately 6 feet tall, weighing 180 pounds, with a slight beard. The suspect was seen driving a blue, older model, full-size pickup truck. The truck was loaded with other miscellaneous item, police said, including a ladder.

Anyone with information concerning either of these crimes are asked to call the Richmond Police Department at 859-623-8911.

Heather Harris can be reached at hharris@richmondregister.com or by phone at 624-6694 or 893-2341.