KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Marion Hamilton probably would have gotten away with it, police said, if it wasn’t for a silent alarm at a south Kansas City, Mo., K-Mart store.
“He had a backpack loaded with jewelry that still had pricetags on it from K-Mart in it,” Sgt. Rod Gentry of the Kansas City, Mo., Police Department said.
It was so much jewelry, it was estimated to be around $75,000 worth, according to police.
But, Hamilton was caught — and according to court documents — later admitted to detectives he stole the jewelry. But, it’s how he stole it that’s out of the ordinary.
“He came into the store, went into the back into the lost storage area, where he waited for the store to close,” Gentry said.
Hamilton ended up running into two employees, who he thought were already gone. But that didn’t trip him up, police said.
“They kind of looked at each other. He turned around as if, you know, he worked there. [That’s when] he returned to the area in the back,” said Gentry.
Hamilton told detectives he shut off power in the store, hoping to cut surveillance cameras and alarms. That’s when he loaded up on the jewels.
“Officers patrolling the south division received an ‘inside motion’ alarm for the K-Mart,” Gentry said.
Officers were close and when they arrived, they found Hamilton in the parking lot — with potential evidence at the store’s front door.
“[Officers] noticed glass was on the ground going from the inside out and a sledge hammer laying there,” Gentry said.
The officers detained the man who turned out to be Hamilton — and quickly put two-and-two together.
