Encounter leads to more charges
An Ohio couple accused of stealing jewelry from an elderly woman is facing new, unrelated charges for a similar incident.
Raini D. Perry, 28, and Matthew W. Perry, 52, of Circleville, Ohio, were originally charged earlier this month by Adams Township police with burglarizing a home on Valley Brook Drive occupied by an 88-year-old victim. In that case, Raini Perry allegedly entered the home Aug. 8 while Matthew Perry spoke to the victim outside about a roof repair project.
The next day, the victim discovered numerous pieces of gold, diamond and costume jewelry valued between $8,000 and $10,000 missing from a box in her bedroom. Those items were later allegedly found to be sold at stores in Pittsburgh and Cranberry Township by Raini and Matthew Perry, respectively, on Aug. 8 for about $1,200.
Police spoke with the Perrys, and Raini Perry allegedly said she was responsible. Matthew Perry allegedly admitted to taking jewelry from his wife and selling it, using his identification, according to charging documents. Police allegedly found a bag containing a number of pieces of the stolen jewelry inside the couple's vehicle while working on a roofing project on Eagle Road.
Raini Perry is charged with burglary, two counts of trespass, theft, receiving stolen property and conspiracy, all felonies. Matthew Perry faces felony charges of receiving stolen property and conspiracy. They both waived their cases to court last week during a preliminary hearing before District Judge Wayne Seibel. Their bonds were changed from $25,000 monetary each to unsecured during that hearing, according to court documents.
Three days later, charges in a similar but unrelated case were filed in Seibel's office.
According to an affidavit of probable cause, an Adams Township police detective was at a Cranberry Township store Aug. 21 recovering jewelry taken from the elderly woman. As the officer was doing paperwork, a woman entered the store and asked an employee if the jewelry on display was all they had. She said she had been burglarized, and the people she suspected had done it had been arrested outside of her home on Eagle Road.The detective introduced himself and said he would be in touch once all items were recovered. He found that two 14 karat gold rings and another gold ring had allegedly been sold by Matthew Perry for $165.90 on July 25. One of the rings was later found to be the victim's wedding band, the complaint states. The rings had since been sold by the store.According to the complaint, the victim said she was having her roof repaired in late July. She told police jewelry was missing from small, individual boxes in her bedroom. She said on July 24, debris had fallen inside the kitchen and bathroom, and Raini Perry had come inside to clean it up. The complaint notes she was left unattended in the master bedroom's bathroom while the cleanup took place.Raini Perry is charged with burglary, theft by unlawful taking, conspiracy to receive stolen property, criminal trespass and receiving stolen property. Matthew Perry is charged with receiving stolen property and conspiracy to receive stolen property. They are both free on $25,000 unsecured bond awaiting Sept. 3 preliminary hearings.
