The arrest stemmed from an incident on Wednesday, July 19, when Yorktown Police were sent to Yorktown Jewelers at 322 Kear St. around 3 a.m. when a burglary was reported.
According to the department, officers arrived at the store and found a smashed window in addition to other signs of a burglary, including several smashed display cases. After doing a complete check of the store, police found that numerous pieces of jewelry had been stolen and that the suspect had left the area.
Detectives then began an investigation into the burglary and eventually developed a potential suspect.
The next day, on Thursday, July 20, Yorktown detectives traveled to a pawn shop in Mount Vernon, where they recovered many of the stolen jewelry pieces. Shortly after this discovery, detectives then found the suspect in the city and recovered more pieces of the stolen jewelry from him.
The suspect, identified as Tuckahoe resident Ryan McCullough, age 28, was held in Mount Vernon until uniformed Yorktown officers arrived and took him to Yorktown Police Headquarters. There, he was processed and charged with:
- Second-degree grand larceny, a felony;
- Second-degree criminal possession of stolen property, a felony;
- Third-degree burglary, a felony;
- Second-degree criminal mischief, a felony.
Ultimately, McCullough allegedly stole over $50,000 worth of jewelry and caused $1,500 worth of damage to the store, police said.
McCullough was arraigned in Yorktown Justice Court on Thursday before being released on his own recognizance. He will appear again in court on Thursday, Aug. 3.
Yorktown Police said they were able to catch McCullough thanks to help from the town's business community, which provided video surveillance that helped the department identify him as the suspect and arrest him less than 48 hours after the burglary.
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