A Port St. Lucie woman’s alleged burglary spree was ended after a pawnshop in St. Lucie West provided key evidence police used to arrest her.
Dawn Denise Yergey, 38, of 361 NW Aurora St., once passed herself off as just a resident when police came investigating home burglaries on her street.
Police found her in a garage and asked her – as they had asked other residents – if she knew anything about the burglaries.
She, according to the arrest report, told the officer she did not hear or see anything suspicious in the area.
Ultimately, items stolen from homes on NW Aurora Street and NW Dearman Street were pawned at Crown Jewel, located at 1355 SW St. Lucie West Blvd.
After the items were pawned, police made contact with the owner, who turned over the pawn slip, which had Yergey’s thumb print.
With the pawn slip and surveillance video showing Yergey pawning the items, police were able to arrest her.
A total of eight items had been taken to Crown Jewel and pawned. At the time of her arrest, four of those items were identified by the victims. The remaining four had not been claimed.
Yergey was arrested on felony charges that include larceny – grand theft between $300 and $5,000, providing false owner information to pawn items less than $300, and dealing in stolen property.
She has since been released from the St. Lucie County jail.
According to the Port St. Lucie Police Department, Yergey is suspected of burglarizing a home in the 350 block of NW Aurora Street on Oct. 28, entering through an unlocked sliding glass door. From that home, a diamond ring and necklace, a Fossil watch and earrings along with about $200 cash was taken.
That same day, another burglary was reported in the 360 block of NW Dearman Street. According to the arrest report, Yergey entered the home through the front door, an ADT Alarm was activated and Port St. Lucie police responded. Yergey is suspected of taking a drawer from the victim’s jewelry box containing a child’s bracelet, rings and 14k gold earrings.
The next day, Oct. 29, authorities responded to another burglary call, this one in the 320 block of NW Aurora Street. An HP laptop, a red tablet, a black tablet, and a red and black DVD player had been taken, along with a pillowcase.
Again, police suspect Yergey of burglarizing the home, according to the arrest report.
One victim identified three pieces of jewelry that had been pawned, including a long gold necklace, a unicorn charm and a seashell charm. Another victim was able to identify a fourth piece of jewelry, a ring.
Another victim did not recognize the remaining four items that had been pawned. Those items remain unclaimed and the whereabouts of the other stolen items is unknown.
Police continue to investigate the burglaries.
