Susan Bonano stood behind a fresh pane of glass in a display cabinet at her jewelry store. She’s the “Sue” in Sue’s Jewelry on Metairie Road. She opened her hand to reveal her palm — full of diamond earrings. Then Bonano signed with relief to have the jewels in her hand.
On January 11, someone entered the store during its normal business hours and smashed the glass of the display case with the diamonds inside. He grabbed more than $60,000 dollars in jewels and hurried out the store’s door.
Bonano feared the thief would get away. She says she knows a few pawn store owners in the area, but hardly enough to spread the word of the robbery. So she put her faith in Jefferson Parish deputies to find the man who was so well covered during his heist, nobody inside the store could even tell his race or approximate age.
Six days later, Bonano got a call she seriously never expected. It just so happened that the thief was trying to sell the stolen jewels to one of the two pawn store owners who she knew.
“He followed him outside, got the license plate number, and called here. I called the detective. The detective followed through, and they found him,” Bonano said.
JPSO deputies say they arrested 27-year-old Timothy Naquin. They say he had some of the jewelry and had pawned the rest at other shops in the area for more than $5,000.
As of Tuesday, all the property was back where it belonged.