Jail guard stole property worth thousands from inmate at SC jail, cops say
A man who used to be a correctional officer was recently booked into the jail where he previously worked after he was arrested for stealing property from an inmate, according to the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division.
On April 29, Julyan Keith Smith was charged with grand larceny (value more than $2,000 but less than $10,000), obtaining a signature under false pretenses (value more than $2,000 but less than $10,000) and misconduct in office, SLED said Monday in a news release.
Smith, a 52-year-old Lugoff resident, was a guard at Kershaw County Detention Center on April 12, when he’s accused of stealing a gold bracelet from an inmate who had been booked into the Midlands jail two days earlier, according to arrest warrants.
Cpl. Smith removed the property bin containing the inmate’s bracelet and took it out of camera view, the arrest warrants said.
When the inmate was released from the jail April 13, the rest of their property was returned — save for the bracelet that was missing, according to the arrest warrants. That’s because Smith had taken the stolen jewelry to a pawn shop in Lugoff where he sold it for $3,000, an arrest warrant shows. Smith told an employee at the pawn shop that “he had found the bracelet,” an arrest warrant said.
Both the pawn shop owner and the victim said the bracelet was worth about $15,000, according to the arrest warrant.
The Kershaw County Sheriff’s Office asked SLED to lead an investigation, and Smith was arrested following a review of surveillance footage as well as interviews with the victim and witnesses, according to SLED.
Smith was booked into the Kershaw County Detention Center, SLED said. He posted a $7,000 bond, on the combined charges, the same day he was arrested, Kershaw County court records show. Smith is not listed on the jail’s inmate roster.
The case will be prosecuted by the 5th Circuit Solicitor’s Office.
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