Palm Coast, FL - Over five months after a Palm Coast jewelry store was robbed of over $20,000 in jewelry by two men, investigators say a Georgia man confessed to the crime while behind bars for another reason.
25-year-old Tyrone L. Walker was formally arrested by the Flagler County Sheriff's Office on felony charges of grand theft, robbery with a weapon and criminal mischief on Wednesday (January 16th) at the Chatham County (GA) Jail.
Flagler County Sheriff Rick Staly says they're working to extradite Walker to Flagler for trial as soon as possible.
"This is another outstanding job by our detectives," Staly added. "Sometimes, these cases take a while to solve, but we continue to work them using every thread of evidence we have to build the case. We will not rest until his accomplice is also identified and arrested."
That arrest was primarily based on DNA evidence which tied Walker to the August 11th crime scene at Kay Jewelers inside the Palm Coast Town Center, according to the arrest report.
FCSO spokesperson Brittany Kershaw says Walker - a Savannah resident - and the other suspect were caught on the store's video security system struggling with two female employees as they took at least six expensive pieces of jewelry and did over $1,000 in damage to a jewelry display case.
"No customers were present during the incident," Kershaw added. "The suspects are seen attempting to take the keys to the display from the employees but were unsuccessful."
Investigators say that's when one of the suspects pulled a hammer from a pocket and hit the glass on the display repeatedly, creating a hole big enough to reach inside and grab the gold jewelry within.
All of those pieces were valued at over $1,500 dollars, per the arrest report, with the most expensive valued at nearly $7,300.
Blood found on the glass afterward by FCSO was sent to a DNA lab in Deerfield Beach for analysis. It came back as a positive hit on Walker after FCSO detectives were able to get him to provide some of his DNA for testing and get a Georgia judge to sign off on a search warrant.
Per the report, Walker was initially considered a suspect by FCSO a week after the crime when the Jeweler's Security Alliance found his photo on Facebook and noted that his physical description roughly matched one of the suspects, down to a spider tattoo on his neck, another tattoo on a forearm and a chipped front tooth.
When questioned by FCSO at the jail, Walker eventually confessed to the crime, saying he did it because he is "[expletive] up out here in life", per the report.
He refused to tell detectives who his accomplice was, though, saying that they would have to "find out who my mans is on your own" because he wouldn't lie about that.
Walker did tell detectives the crime wasn't planned beforehand and that he already got rid of the stolen jewelry.
FCSO is working with the Savannah Police Department in the hopes of discovering the second suspect, according to Kershaw.
By Georgia law, mugshots are not considered public record.
