Man Charged With Stealing $50,000 Worth Of Diamonds From Gurnee Store
GURNEE, Ill. (CBS) -- Police in Gurnee announced that they have arrested and charged a man accused of stealing $50,000 worth of diamonds from a jewelry store.
Demond Reid, 43, of Chicago, was arrested on a warrant late last week, police said.
Around 10:55 a.m. Monday, Dec. 30, Gurnee police were called to the jewelry store in the 6500 block of Grand Avenue.
A man had entered the store and requested to look at jewelry from a display, police said. During a consultation with a sales person, the suspect took the jewelry and ran off, police said.
The man did not threaten any salespeople and there was no sign of a weapon, police said. The estimated value of the merchandise was $50,000.
Officers responded and set up a perimeter along with a K9 unit from the Lake County Sheriff's office shortly afterward, but the suspect had already left in a vehicle by then, police said.
But Gurnee police used social media and requested help from the community to find the suspect using surveillance images. Detectives later identified Reid, and worked with several Chicago law enforcement agencies in Chicago to find him, police said.
This past Thursday, Reid was taken into custody by Cook County Sheriff's police and then handed over to Gurnee police.
"This case is a great example of how our officers and community members can create great partnerships to solve crime," Gurnee Police Chief Brian Smith said in a news release. "The connections and interactions we made with citizens through social media have allowed us to utilize this resource and promote the safety of the entire community. We encourage citizens to participate in the process by calling the police at the onset of suspicious activity and taking responsibility for reporting information that may lead to an arrest."
Reid was charged with theft over $10,000 – a class 2 felony. His bail was set at $75,000.