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Woman: Friend's daughter stole from me

The 21-year-old, who returned some of the $11,000 in jewelry after retrieving it from a pawn shop, is charged with grand theft.

By GINA PACE
Published August 10, 2006

A Wesley Chapel woman says her best friend's daughter stole $11,000 in jewelry from her home.

Katie Williams said her best friend, Brenda McCormick, offered to take her job hunting last week. McCormick volunteered to have her daughter, Amanda McCormick, 21, take Williams' 10-year-old daughter swimming while the women were out, Williams said.

But the swimming trip lasted only a few minutes, Danielle Williams later told her mother. Instead, Amanda told Danielle to take a bath; when Danielle left the bathroom, she found Amanda stuffing jewelry into her jeans pockets, Williams said.

Amanda McCormick took the jewelry to a pawn shop in Hillsborough County and was paid $430 for the stolen goods, according to Pasco County Sheriff's Office reports.

Williams said Amanda McCormick later returned some of the items after retrieving them from the pawn shop. But other items haven't been recovered, Williams said.

"The sad thing is that I'm not going to recover jewelry that I've saved years and years to hand down to my daughter," Williams said.

Amanda McCormick was charged Tuesday with grand theft. Brenda McCormick said that after the theft, her daughter tried to do the right thing.

"I don't know what else she (Katie Williams) wants," McCormick said. "She (Amanda) confessed, she spent the night in jail, she's in a lot of trouble."

Amanda McCormick was released from the Land O'Lakes jail Wednesday evening.

Also Tuesday, an Odessa teen was arrested on charges she stole $8,000 to $15,000 in cash, jewelry, rare coins and baseball cards while petsitting at someone's home. The owners were vacationing in Michigan, according to police reports.

Amanda Harasimiuk, 16, was released to a relative Tuesday.

A 19-year-old man allegedly sold the stolen items at a pawn shop, but the Sheriff's Office is not releasing his name. Sheriff's spokesman Kevin Doll said the unnamed suspect has been arrested by Tampa police on charges of dealing in stolen property.

Doll said the thefts in Wesley Chapel and Odessa are unrelated.

[Last modified August 9, 2006, 22:48:56]