Jewelry

“The allegations are that the defendant stole an enormous amount of jewelry and could be as much as $40,000 of value,” said District Attorney Jane Kohlwey. “The defendant has a considerable criminal history, including prior theft and receiving stolen property.”

Williamson was arrested on Tuesday when the Portage Police Department responded to a call by a woman at around 7:30 a.m. asking for help ejecting her boyfriend from her bed. At the home on East Edgewater Street, Williamson was arrested, according to the police report, on suspicion of violation of probation and possession and suspected theft of jewelry, totaling roughly $30,000.

The woman who called the police had been dating Williamson for about eight weeks, according to testimony in the criminal complaint, noticing on Sept. 11 that she had pieces of jewelry missing. Williamson had come over to her house on Monday night, she told the officer, and early Tuesday morning she woke up to find Williamson’s duffle bag in her kitchen with seven baggies of jewelry in an end pocket. Williamson was still asleep at the time.

When police arrived, Williamson’s car was searched, reportedly uncovering several pieces of jewelry that the woman identified as hers, worth several hundred dollars in total. Police reported finding more jewelry, that the woman did not recognize, though she later reported missing over $40,000 worth of jewelry, according to the complaint.

“I would note from the outset that Mr. Williamson has been in custody since Tuesday, without the complaint ,” said defense attorney Jennifer Cunha. “At first it was a misdemeanor and then it was a felony, and I was actually just handed my copy of the complaint right now. The felony alleges that he stole between $2,500 and $5,000. Now the District Attorney is saying $40,000.”

“I can address those issues,” Kohlwey interjected.

“The point is that he has been in custody since Tuesday without any sense of where this case is going and it is changing by the minute,” said Cunha.

Kohlwey explained that the case had always been a felony, but had originally been misfiled by the clerk of court, going on to say that there had been “no fluidity” to the case.

“The complaint, if Ms. Cunha bothers to read the entire complaint, clearly says at the end, up to $40,000 of jewelry is estimated by the victim here,” said Kohlwey.

“He has stolen property from other people going back to 2007 with a conviction in '89 for bail jumping and criminal damage to property as well.”

Judge Alan White ruled that despite Williamson being a long-time resident without any history of missing court, his past criminal record is not irrelevant, and other points would be taken into consideration.

“We also look at the strength of the complaint — what is alleged in the complaint — and $40,000 is the allegation,” said White, “but the jewelry was found in the defendant’s bag.”

White ordered Williamson to be held on $500 cash bond and set his next court date for Dec. 7.