Naples jewelry store employee arrested in $1M theft

NAPLES, Fla.- A Littman Jewelers store employee accused of stealing more than $1 million worth of items is now in jail, the Naples Police Department said.

Police say Jeffrey Charles Vickers, 35, admitted to the theft and said he was going to use the jewelry to fund his drug addiction.

Monday morning, management at the jewelry store, 1918 9th Street North, discovered watches, loose diamonds, and other pieces of jewelry were missing from the store safe.

Surveillance video showed a man inside the store shortly after it closed on Sunday. The suspect deactivated the alarm, entered the safe, and removed multiple jewelry cases which he placed into a backpack and garbage bag, police said. The man also took money out of the cash register before leaving the store, police said.

Other employees of the store were able to identify Vickers as the suspect.

Inside Vickers’ vehicle, detectives found the items stolen from Littman Jewelers. Authorities were also able to locate the clothing worn by Vickers during the burglary as evidence.