Mesa woman stole multiple Costco diamond rings and switched them for fakes, police say
PHOENIX - Police have arrested a Mesa woman accused of stealing diamond rings at Costco stores across the Phoenix metropolitan area and swapping them out with fake ones.
Keisha Joice is suspected of stealing at least five diamond rings from stores in Gilbert, Chandler, Scottsdale, Paradise Valley and Cave Creek, which had a total value of nearly $8,500.
In each case, Joice reportedly would ask the jewelry clerk to look at one of their rings. While she had the ring in her hand, she would switch it out for a fake one and give it "back" to the employee while pocketing the real one, court documents said.
Staff was tipped off about the thefts when a customer discovered a fake ring in a Costco jewelry case with a Walmart tag attached.
Police say Joice was confronted at a Cave Creek Costco during one of the thefts and fled in a car with a falsified license plate.
After an investigation, police discovered that Joice had pawned a ring from a Costco in Scottsdale two weeks after a theft at their location.
"[Joice] has extensive criminal history consisting of forgery, fraud schemes, organized retail theft and shoplifting…the defendant also had misdemeanor and felony convictions for shoplifting, false reporting to law enforcement, and drugs," documents read.
Police say she had five diamond and ruby rings in her possession when she was arrested, and she had been wearing four of them. It is not known if these rings were real or fake.
She faces charges of theft, trafficking stolen property and drug possession.
Keisha Joice
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