Robinson Police: Suspicious Jewelry Sale Leads to Arrest

A McKees Rocks man has been charged with selling thousands of dollars-worth of stolen jewelry at the Atlantic Gold Exchange on Campbells Run Road.

Michael King, 30, of McKees Rocks, was charged yesterday by borough police with receiving stolen property, burglary and drug possession with intent to deliver, according to court records. 

Robinson Detective Dan Dugan said he became suspicious of King after performing a routine scan of the Robinson shop's sales transactions.

Sales records from the store indicated that King sold several high-priced women's jewelry items, including rings, bracelets and chains, Dugan said.

The gold exchange store paid $4,012.87 for the items, Dugan said. 

"I thought that it was a pretty considerable amount of women's jewelry for a young man to have," Dugan said. "It seemed suspicious." 

Dugan contacted McKees Rocks Police, who were investigating a recent burglary, about the suspicious sale. 

McKees Rocks Police obtained a search warrant for King's home, where they found stamp bags containing heroin, stolen jewelry items and tools, WPXI reports. 

King is held at the Allegheny County Jail on $20,000 bail. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for Jan. 29, according to court records. 

Dugan said township jewelers, jewelry exchange shops and gold-buying kiosks report sales transactions to the police department, which are then monitored for suspicious activity.

He said monitoring those routine sales in Robinson lead to a December 2012 arrest of a man wanted for burglary in Pittsburgh and Ohio. The man, who attempted to sell a total of $4,627 in jewelry while in Robinson, was later charged with stealing more than $1 million in jewelry from various locations. 

"They report this information to us daily and we take a look at it," the detective said.