Jewelry theft suspect identified - Gloucester Daily Times
Nearly three months after a man allegedly walked out of a downtown Gloucester store with more than $8,000 worth of jewelry tucked into his palm, city police and other authorities have identified him and issued a warrant for his arrest.
Robert Elliot, 55, whose last known address is 15 Maple St., Apt. 2, in Dexter, Maine, has been identified by police as the man caught on video while inside the DIVA store on Gloucester's Main Street on July 9, when he is accused of made off with $8,259 worth of jewelry. Gloucester District Court issued the arrest warrant on the charge of larceny of more than $250.
The suspect had spent some two hours inside the store, owner Donna Soodalter-Toman and store associate Janice Lesniak said at the time.
The man told the women his name was Bob Coffey, a character in the 1999 film, "The Green Mile," and said he was looking to buy jewelry to replace pieces for his wife that had been stolen from his home.
Gloucester police Detective Thomas Quinn, who had widely circulated photos of the suspect taken from store surveillance cameras, said Tuesday that police in Quincy,Gardner and South Portland, Maine, recognized the photos as the same man suspected in thefts from stores in their cities. Analyst Marcy Bois Bennett of the Massachusetts State Police found a comparison match to the suspect's tattoos as matching those of Elliot. The state police report also indicated that Elliot had used a number of aliases, including the last name Coffey.
"We looked at the videos, and clearly it's the same guy," Quinn said of working with South Portland and state police authorities. "We have his last known address, but unfortunately, he's moved on. Now, we're in the process of trying to locate and arrest him."
According to Quinn, records show that Elliot is wanted on warrants stemming from his alleged defrauding of a store in Gardner, and for his alleged theft from the Maine Gold & Silver shop in South Portland in July, just a few weeks after the theft from DIVA. Quinn said he continues to work with detectives in Quincy, who first recognized Elliot's photo from Gloucester's postings as the man who committed a similar heist there last December.
Soodalter-Toman said Tuesday she was encouraged to learn that police had at least identified Elliot as the suspect.
"I'd feel better, of course, if they actually had him (in custody)," she said, "but it is good to hear. I was surprised to hear they had identified him. I've had stores robbed before (in Newton), and even with video, no one was ever caught.
"I think the fact that the police in these different states all worked together on this is a very good sign," she added. "It's good to know. I'm optimistic they'll catch him now; I don't see any reason not to be."
Soodalter-Toman, whose store name stands for Donna's Incredible Variety of Adornments, had told police the man who came into the store had selected several pieces of jewelry for purchase for his wife, asked if she could box them up, and said he would return to pick them up after "running errands."
But the man never returned, she told officers, and as she was re-shelving the items he had selected, she found that six pieces of jewelry, all of which could have fit into his closed palm, were missing.
"He was smooth, so smooth," she said Tuesday. "But he's on the radar now; hopefully it will just be a matter of time."
Ray Lamont can be reached at 978-675-2705, or rlamont@gloucestertimes.com.
