Man indicted in theft of $147,000 in diamonds
A 51-year-old man was indicted Wednesday in connection with the theft of $147,000 in diamonds and other items from a Las Vegas jewelry store.
Rodney Anistead, who was extradited from Maryland, is being held at the Clark County Detention Center on charges of conspiracy, burglary and grand larceny.
According to a Las Vegas police report, surveillance video showed Anistead and another man entering the Zales outlet store at 7400 Las Vegas Blvd. South around 6:45 p.m. on March 7, 2012.
The two men distracted the sales clerks by pretending to be customers, according to the report, while another man went to the back of the store and entered an area that contained all the master keys for Zales display cases in the region.
Surveillance video showed Anistead and another man entering the Zales outlet store at 855 Grand Central Parkway around 8:30 p.m., according to the report, and again distracting employees by posing as customers.
A third man then reached over the display cases and used a key to open them and remove jewelry. The group left the store without incident.
When the store employees conducted inventory at the end of the day, they noticed the property missing.
Police later reviewed surveillance video that showed the same suspects conducting a similar theft the following day at a Zales store in San Bernardino, Calif.
According to the Las Vegas police report, police in Montgomery County, Md., were investigating the use of a stolen credit card on March 15, 2012, when they saw suspects loading merchandise into a black Range Rover with a Maryland license plate. The vehicle was registered to Anistead.
A search of the vehicle turned up two diamonds stolen from the Zales store in Las Vegas.
According to the indictment, Anistead conspired with Ronald Bell, 47, and Bruce Shelton, 54, to steal the jewelry, although the other two men are not charged in the case.
Contact reporter Carri Geer Thevenot at cgeer@reviewjournal.com or 702-384-8710.
