A pest control worker has been jailed after allegedly snatching $7,400 worth of a Villager’s jewelry during a visit to her home.
The Village of Piedmont woman went to the Marion County Sheriff’s Office at Mulberry Grove in The Villages earlier this month after she discovered that valuable jewelry was missing from her home. The jewelry included a pendant necklace with a gold chain and diamonds worth $4,000; a wedding ring with a 1 1/4 carat diamond with yellow diamonds around the band worth $3,000; and a gold cross and necklace with emeralds worth $400.
She said that a pest control worker from Superior Pest Control had recently visited her home, according to an arrest report.
An investigation led to Superior Pest Control employee, 26-year-old Speed Quantez of Ocala who had “pawned an unusual amount of jewelry over the past few months,” the report said. The jewelry included several women’s wedding rings, a man’s high school ring from 1951, a woman’s college ring from 1953 and several chains. A pawn shop employee was suspicious, but Quantez explained his “grandparents were recently deceased and he obtained a large inheritance.” The Villager’s wedding ring was traced to the pawn shop. He had pawned it for $650.
Quantez was arrested Thursday on charges of grand theft, fraud and providing false information to a pawn broker. He was booked at the Marion County Jail on $12,000 bond.
