Thieves try to sell jewelry to owner

HICKORY, N.C. -- A pair of alleged jewelry thieves return their stolen merchandise to its proper owner. The problem is, they didn’t mean to. It’s one of the more bizarre crime stories we’ve heard in a while.

The owner of Goldsmith’s Jewelry Store in Hickory was sorting some jewelry a customer was offering for sale when he recognized some of the pieces. Turns out someone was trying to sell him the jewelry stolen from his wife and daughter just five days earlier.

Call it luck, call it coincidence…

“Divine intervention that’s what we call it,” said Catawba County Sheriff L. David Huffman.

Store owner Ed Knupp describes it as, “All of the above. Luck, coincidence, and answered prayers.”

Knupp says someone broke into his house last week. They ransacked his bedroom and stole two guns and lots of jewelry.

“The night stand drawer was dumped on the floor, my wife’s jewelry boxes were all emptied out,” Knupp said.

Knupp filed a police report, but knew even with his friends in the business, the jewelry was likely gone for good.

“My son said, ‘Wouldn’t it be the coolest thing if they showed up trying to sell you our stuff?’ I said, well we can hope,” Knupp said.

In this case, hope was all they needed.

Five days later, Knupp says Christina Webb tried to sell him some jewelry.

He immediately recognized several of the pieces as those stolen from his family.

“I activated my silent alarm. Hickory police responded very promptly,” he said.

Webb and her alleged partner, Christopher Garrett, were arrested. But Sheriff Huffman says an investigation is still underway.

“It’s a possibility they have been involved in other situations but I don’t think they will be for a while now,” Huffman said.

Knupp says Webb is no stranger to him.

“She had been in before. She had sold me scrap before,” he said.

Garrett and Webb are behind bars under $10,000 and $5,000 bonds respectively.