A young woman arrested by the FBI in connection with a string of jewelry store robberies across the Southeast is scheduled to make her initial court appearance Monday, a spokeswoman for the FBI office in Jacksonville, Florida, told ABC News today.
Abigail Lee Kemp, 24, was arrested without incident Friday in Smyrna, Georgia, following tips from the public, the FBI said.
The Jewelers’ Security Alliance reported the total losses from the six robberies as more than $4 million at retail.
“I think if you were seduced by the rush, it doesn’t matter what your age is,” former FBI agent and ABC News contributor Brad Garrett told ABC News. “It becomes intoxicating.”
Another person with Kemp at the time of her arrest was also in custody, the FBI said. Authorities have not released the other person’s identity or how the arrests took place, an FBI spokeswoman told ABC News today.
The FBI office in Jacksonville said earlier this week that it was looking for a woman believed to be involved in six jewelry store robberies in North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Tennessee and Florida.
In North Carolina on Jan. 4, a woman held store employees at gunpoint, zip-tied their hands, then robbed the store, the FBI said.
A man was seen with the woman on surveillance video during robberies in Florida and Georgia, the FBI said.
According to the affidavit, a cell phone number with an Atlanta area-code — traced to Kemp — hit towers in cities where the robberies occurred around the time the crimes.
Investigators also used the suspect’s car information — a maroon 2006 Honda Civic — to help identify her. Investigators say she changed the color of her car from maroon to black during the course of the crime spree, according to the affidavit.( EMILY SHAPIRO)
Link: http://abcnews.go.com/US/24-year-arrested-string-southeast-jewelry-store-thefts/story?id=36196769
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