Man charged with stealing over $800k in jewelry

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (WMC) - Memphis Police Department has arrested a man who was allegedly responsible for three jewelry shop burglaries in the Memphis area between May and June.

The suspect, Scott Blackston, 22, was arrested after driving in a stolen car at Annesdale Avenue and Withers Street on June 30.

After the car was inventoried, police found an Oak Hall bag containing over $812,000 worth of jewelry and silverware; a horde police suspected was stolen from three East Memphis jewelry shops, including Tate’s Jewelry, Kay Jewelers at the Oak Hall shopping center, and Mednikow Jewelry.

Investigators found that the jewelry inside the bag belonged to all three businesses.

Blackston was arrested again on Tuesday after officers carried out a search warrant in his home and found a bag containing a Tate’s Jewelry invoice and a necklace.

Blackston told police that he did not know there was jewelry in his car, and that others paid him to store jewelry in his home.

Blackston was charged Tuesday for the two May 19 “smash-n-grab” burglaries at Tate’s Jewelry and Oak Hall, along with the June 13 burglary at Mednikow Jewelry.

Blackston was also charged with three counts of property theft.

His next court date is Thursday.

Click here to sign up for our newsletter!

Click here to report a spelling or grammar error. Please include the headline.