MOUNT PLEASANT — A Milwaukee woman is accused of stealing jewelry from two Racine County residences where she was employed as a cleaner, and then pawning it.
Breanne M. Hart, 29, is charged with one count of felony theft of movable property valued at between $2,500-$5,000 and one count of misdemeanor theft.
For both charges combined, she faces the possibility of up to $20,000 in fines and four years and three months in prison.
According to the criminal complaint:
After Hart and the owner of the company that employed her cleaned a house on the 8900 block of Arbor Hill Drive in Mount Pleasant on April 1, the homeowner noticed several pieces of jewelry were missing. They included a diamond tennis bracelet worth $1,000, a gold watch worth $1,500 and three necklaces worth around $150 each. The victim said no one but the cleaning ladies had been in the house that day.
People are also reading…
An investigator with the Mount Pleasant Police discovered that Hart pawned jewelry that matched the stolen pieces that same day.
After her arrest, Hart allegedly told police she was having issues with alcohol and finances. Hart reportedly admitted to stealing and selling the jewelry and receiving $725 for it.
The stolen items were recovered from Wisconsin Discount and returned to the victim.
During the investigation, it was discovered that Hart also pawned jewelry on March 21.
Hart allegedly admitted to taking those items from a Waterford residence. The Waterford victim confirmed to police that she used the cleaning service on March 20 and later found that a gold wedding band worth $300, another ring worth $1,200 and a necklace worth $500 were missing. The items had already been melted, so they could not be recovered, but she identified the jewelry from a photo provided by the pawn shop.
Hart was initially charged on April 8 and made her first court appearance in this case Thursday. A preliminary hearing is set for 8:30 a.m. May 9 at the Law Enforcement Center, 717 Wisconsin Ave.