$7,900 Tiffany engagement ring stolen during Austin move
by Bettie Cross
An Austin moving company employee is charged with stealing a woman’s $7,900 Tiffany engagement ring. The mover is suspected of rummaging through bags in a room the family said was off-limits and taking the ring. (CBS Austin)
An Austin moving company employee is charged with stealing a woman’s $7,900 Tiffany engagement ring. The mover is suspected of rummaging through bags in a room the family said was off-limits and taking the ring.
“Just be really cautious,” said Sarah Gilbreath.
The mother of two children has some advice for anyone thinking about hiring a moving company. “If you can, move your stuff yourself,” said Gilbreath.
She lost trust in movers after her engagement ring was stolen during a 2017 local move. “It wasn’t like it was a jewelry box sitting out on a counter where they would obviously see it and think I should look in there,” said Gilbreath.
In fact, just the opposite. “It was in a jewelry box inside a bag, that was inside another bag, so they must have spent some time looking for it,” said Gilbreath.
The Austin Police Department just issued an arrest warrant for 22-year-old Daquan Akeem Forrest. He’s charged with theft, a state jail felony. Forrest worked for an Austin moving company and is accused of taking the $7,900 Tiffany engagement ring during a local move. The ring was packed away because it’s from Gilbreath’s first marriage.
“I didn’t have any idea that they were entering rooms that they weren’t supposed to or digging through my bags or anything like that,” said Gilbreath, who was seven months pregnant at the time.
She says she and her husband specifically asked the movers to stay out of one room. “We asked them not to touch, move or enter the master bathroom,” said Gilbreath.
Now she thinks that was the opposite of what she should have done. “That was probably an indication to them that that’s where they should go to look for something if they wanted to steal it. So I would not do that again,” said Gilbreath.
She says if she ever moves again she’ll box up her jewelry and other valuables and lock them in the trunk of her car. Another option is to leave one or two boxes of valuables with a family member or friend.
“It’s beautiful,” said Gilbreath as she looked at her new wedding ring.
Sarah remarried and has a new wedding ring. Police have also tracked down the engagement ring from her first marriage at an Austin Pawn Shop. She’ll get that back. What’s gone forever is her peace of mind. “It’s just an icky feeling to know someone has been digging through your stuff,” said Gilbreath.
The owner of the Blue Whale Moving Company could not do an on-camera interview with CBS Austin on Wednesday. But Hunter Armstrong told CBS Austin that the employee is no longer with the company and that the theft of the engagement ring is an “isolated instance.” Armstrong said, “In 31 years of business we have had very, very few instances of this sort of thing happening.”
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