Accused of stealing more than $20,000 worth of jewelry and several firearms, two people face charges stemming from a Jan. 3 burglary in the town of Glendale.
Randy Harmel, 39, of Kendall was referred to the Monroe County District Attorney’s office for burglary, theft, theft of a firearm, possession of stolen property and felon in possession of a firearm.
Jessica Hawes, 37, of Camp Douglas was referred for party to a crime, theft, theft of a firearm and possession of stolen property.
The victims were not at their Huron Avenue home when the items were stolen, according to the police report. It appeared the burglar had forced open the front basement door, which had been locked, but not deadbolted.
The victims provided photos of the stolen jewelry. Police later determined that Harmel had sold two items of jewelry Jan. 9 to Forever Yours Jewelry in Sun Prairie, Wis., and that Hawes had sold five items to Pawn America in Madison on the same day. Also, Hawes sold jewelry to CWCC Pawn Ship in Marshfield, Wis., on Jan. 6. The pawned jewelry matched the jewelry shown in the photos provided by the victims.
Police met with Hawes on Jan. 17, first speaking with her about a burglary at Valley Pride Pack in Norwalk. She identified Harmel on the surveillance video of the incident, but said she didn’t have any information to share on that burglary. Hawes also said she wanted to get her boyfriend Harmel help for his methamphetamine addiction.
When asked where she was Jan. 3, Hawes responded, “I don’t think I did much of anything.”
After police acknowledged to Hawes that jewelry had been sold to Pawn America, she said that Harmel had asked her to meet him in Madison that day. When she arrived at Pawn America, Harmel asked her to sell the jewelry, she said. He hadn’t told her where the jewelry had come from, she added. She also said she didn’t know anything about the jewelry she had sold in Marshfield.
After she was told that search warrants had been completed on her and Harmel’s cell phone records to track their locations as they had sold the stolen jewelry, Hawes said, “I don’t even know about it.”
She later admitted that Harmel had asked her to pick him up the night of Jan. 3 on County Highway C, near the county line. Harmel looked like he had “full pockets,” she said.
Later still in the interview, Hawes acknowledged that she had dropped off Harmel where she had later picked him up, about ¼ mile from County Highway C. When she picked him up, he came out of a cornfield.
On a later date, police interviewed Harmel at the Monroe County Jail. There, he said he had received jewelry from Hawes and had sold it to get money. He added that he hadn’t known where the jewelry had come from.
After police told him not to lie, Harmel said he needed help for his drug addiction. He later said he had been the only person to enter the town of Glendale residence.
Harmel then admitted to stealing the jewelry, but not the guns. Later, he said he had hidden three of the guns at another person’s house in Mauston.
On Jan. 22, Hawes admitted she had tried to exchange two of the guns for three eight-balls of methamphetamine, but the other party claimed not to have any drugs on him. Afterward, she found her vehicle had been ransacked, she said.
A citizen found four of the victims’ stolen firearms Feb. 21 at the Juneau County Landfill and turned them into the Juneau County Sheriff’s Office. One of those firearms had not been previously reported as stolen, as the victim had been unaware that it had been missing.