A Jacksonville pest control worker was arrested in Clay County on Wednesday for stealing jewelry while on the job and cashing in at local pawn shops.
James Forys, 33, is charged with two counts of grand theft, one count of dealing in stolen property, and one count of false verification to a second-hand owner.
Clay deputies say Forys stole jewelry from at least four different homes while he was performing services as a technician for Florida Pest Control.
WOKV News obtained three arrest reports. One says that a woman called Florida Pest Control in August after she noticed a ring was missing from her bathroom. She was told that the technician who treated her home, Forys, admitted to taking property from other customer’s homes.
She called the Clay County Sheriff’s Office who later tracked down her $300 gold ring at Cash America on Normandy Blvd in Jacksonville.
Another arrest report says Forys sold six ladies rings for $475 to Gold Refiners on Park Avenue in Orange Park on Sept. 9. The store manager told the deputy that Forys told her the rings were left to him in the will of his recently deceased grandmother.
Four the rings were confirmed stolen from a Jacksonville home that was serviced by Florida Pest Control in September. The arrest report says Forys told the deputy he serviced the home while working for the company. The owner of the other two rings has not been located yet.
A third arrest report says three rings worth $3,000 were stolen from a Middleburg home. The home had been serviced by Florida Pest Control early September.
Two of those rings were located at the Gold Refiners shop in Jacksonville. They were pawned under Forys’ name.
All three cases are still active. Forys was booked into Clay County Jail on a $50,000 bond.
