October 14, 2020
By Mark Reagan
The McAllen Police Department accuses a 45-year-old Edinburg woman of stealing more than $10,000 from a residence where she worked as a provider.
Authorities arrested Sylvia Angelica Medina on Sunday and charged her with theft, more than $2,500 but less than $10,000, according to a probable cause affidavit.
The alleged theft occurred on June 20 in the 3800 block of Umar Avenue.
The investigation began after the complainant called police to report that someone stole about $13,250 worth of jewelry.
“(She) stated that she placed all of her belongings in the garage, including a stand up jewelry box which contained all of her jewelry,” the probable cause affidavit states.
On June 20, she told police that she noticed the jewelry was missing, authorities say.
“(She) stated that she suspects her mother’s provider, Sylvia Angelica Medina, stole her jewelry,” the probable cause affidavit states.
Police say the complainant provided receipts for the jewelry, which included a 10-karat white gold men’s diamond band valued at $2,999.99; a 10-karat rose gold crown necklace with lab-created sapphires valued at $134.25; a 14-karat gold Le Vian chocolate diamond tiara ring valued at $1,124.25; a 14-karat white gold Vera Wang princess-cut diamond engagement ring valued at $4,320; a 14-karat white gold sapphire enhancer ring valued at $1,449.50; and an Elisa rose gold multi-strand necklace valued at $88.
The detective assigned to the case says he contacted Medina to see if she would come to the police station to provide a statement.
“Sylvia stated that she was out of town in Galveston, Texas and she won’t return until Wednesday 7/8/2020. I asked Sylvia if she ever had to go into the garage at any moment during her duties,” the probable cause affidavit states.
According to that document, Medina told the detective she once had to go into the garage to fix a load of laundry that had been improperly placed in the washer.
The detective again contacted Medina on July 9 and she said she would not return to the Rio Grande Valley until July 15, according to the charging document.
“I checked Sylvia’s pawn activity on LeadsOnline which showed that she made a pawn on 7/5/2020 in Edinburg, Texas indicating that she was dishonest with me,” the probable cause affidavit states.
The detective says in that document that he went to the Piedad Pawn Shop in Edinburg and obtained a ticket showing Medina pawned a “10K WG 9.6 grams cluster ring” and a “14K 4.36 crown ring” on July 23.
“The second item matched the description of the crown ring that was stolen. I contacted Sylvia and asked if she had yet returned. Sylvia stated that she is still up in the Houston area because she had another surgery a few days ago and is still recovering,” the probable cause affidavit states.
That’s when the detective says he told Medina that he knew the truth about the Piedad Pawn Shop.
“Sylvia remained silent on the line for an extended period of time, and then said she would talk to me about all of this when she returns to town on around 8/17/2020,” the affidavit states.
The detective then says in the charging document that he went to Medina’s mother’s house and was told the woman was not in Houston at all, but was in Georgia and had left on July 30.
A few days later, on Aug. 3, Medina contacted the detective and, according to the affidavit, said she knew she did wrong and was willing to pay the consequences, but needed to know what was going to happen to her.
“Sylvia stated that she did not have the jewelry with her. Sylvia stated that no one at her house knows what she did, and she doesn’t want them to know about it,” the probable cause affidavit states.
On Aug. 5, police say Medina went to the police station and returned four of the six items.
Medina has two previous theft cases from 1994 and 1995, both misdemeanors, records show.
Court records indicate she was found guilty in the 1995 case and reflect that the 1994 case was deferred.
The records are not available online.
Medina bailed out on a $10,000 cash bond on Monday, records show.
Source: https://www.themonitor.com/2020/10/14/edinburg-woman-accused-stealing-10k-jewelry-home-worked/