TEMPE, AZ — Five months after being arrested and charged for at least five jewelry heists, the Maricopa County Sheriffs Office says 24-year-old Kirt Wilson has struck again.
Investigators say Wilson, now a suspect in another break in on New Years Eve, was seen on surveillance cameras with another man stealing from Elite Fine Jewelry off Scottsdale Road and the Loop-202.
“They had some sledgehammers and they busted through the front glass,” said co-owner Justin Cohen.
Wilson was arrested in July after Scottsdale Police identified him off surveillance video from The Estate Watch and Jewelry Company, where he broke in twice. While wearing a bandana over his face, Wilson made off with more than $200,000 in jewelry. The second break in 11 days later, Wilson stole weapons the owner kept inside.
After his arrest, Wilson confessed to five other heists of at least three other jewelry and pawn shops across the Valley.
“I laid in bed nights thinking about it, angry about it," said Don Edwards, owner of The Estate Watch and Jewelry Company.
Maricopa Superior court officials told ABC15 Wilson pleaded guilty, but is no longer in custody. Instead, he was released in September, and strapped with an ankle monitor to keep track of him until he was scheduled to be sentenced.
Sheriff officials said Wilson cut off his monitor on December 23, just days before his latest heist.
“ I don’t think he should’ve ever been released on the ankle monitor," said Cohen. "It’s clearly not a bullet proof system.”
The sheriffs department said several Valley agencies are looking for Wilson, who could face several more charges in connection to the latest heist, and for removing the tracking device.
