AP Woman Charged In 2 Burglaries, Grand Theft

An Avon Park woman remained in Highlands County Jail without bond Thursday after she was arrested for the second time since Aug. 12, and was charged with burglary, grand theft and dealing in stolen property.

Precious Elissia "Blissia" McGhee, 24, of 2130 W. Argonaut Road, was booked into the jail on Wednesday as a suspect in connection with burglaries at two Avon Park addresses and theft therein of $600 worth of jewelry, a $120 cellular telephone and a Visa debit card.

According to an Avon Park Police Department arrest report, police were called at 2:03 a.m. Wednesday to the 100 block of Summit Avenue about a theft. The victim, a 22-year-old Avon Park woman, reported the theft of several pieces of jewelry from a jewelry box she kept in her master bedroom.

McGhee had been in her home with permission to use the bathroom.

A witness reportedly told police that McGhee had come to him to try to sell the jewelry items and that he declined the purchase. He reportedly lived near one of the victim's homes.

She reportedly put the items back into a cellophane package and tucked it inside her bra, the witness reported.

He told a 21-year-old female friend that sometime during their conversation McGhee bent over an area of shrubs and appeared that she threw something away. He mentioned it to the friend because it seemed suspicious, the report stated.

Police contacted a 21-year-old man, at a nearby home in the 100 block of South Glenwood Avenue. He said he had been with McGhee part of the evening but never saw any jewelry.

He started searching the inside of his home because of "alleged suspicious behavior by the defendant at the sight of my marked patrol vehicle upon arrival," officer Allison Smith wrote in her report.

A friend helped search and found a Visa debit card hidden in a cardboard box. The friend told police the card had been at her house inside her kitchen in the 100 block of South Central Avenue.

Police looked in the area of shrubs the witness reported seeing McGhee throw something and found a cell phone which had previously been on a charger in the South Central Avenue home. The back of the phone was missing.

It was found inside a car parked outside.

The telephone belonged to the mother of the friend who had the debit card stolen from the South Central Avenue home, the report stated.

McGhee denied any knowledge of any missing jewelry. Her bail was set at $6,000 on the new charges.

However, a no-bond hold was placed on McGhee because she was arrested in August on a charge of felony retail theft at the Belk Department Store, at Lakeshore Mall. It was a felony arrest because of her three prior convictions for shoplifting.

In the last arrest McGhee's Kmart bag reportedly contained boys pants and a shirt, coming to a total of $94.96 before tax, according to a prior report.