Baiza is accused of making off with over $55,000 worth of merchandise from JEC, where she worked as the janitor

Dawn Baiza, 49, a resident of #8181 Balan Street, was arraigned before Senior Magistrate Sharon Fraser on one count of theft and 18 counts of handling stolen goods.

According to police, Bassem Chakaron, owner of JEC located on Youth for the Future Drive, reported that on October 1, someone visited JEC and attempted to pawn a gold ring. But an inspection of the ring revealed that it was a ring that belonged to that business that had been reported missing.

Chakaron decided to have the business audited and that audit revealed that between July 11, 2012, and October 1, 2013, an assortment of jewelry totaling $55,380 in value had gone missing from his business.

After launching an investigation, police arrested Baiza after some of the missing jewelry was found in her possession. The jewelry with which she was found included gold earrings, gold rings, gold anklets, gold medals, gold chains, gold bracelets and a gold necklace.

Although no objection was made against Baiza being offered bail, the Senior Magistrate asked Baiza to offer a reason why she should not be locked up for stealing a large number of items of such massive value. Her response was, “Because I noh do this and I have two babies at home and I am all they have”.

Baiza, who was unrepresented and had pleaded not guilty to the charge, was offered bail of $30,000 and one surety of the same amount. She is scheduled to appear back in court on December 4, 2013.