MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) – A 21-year-old Burnsville woman is accused of stealing and pawning thousands of dollars in jewelry and stealing hundreds more in cash from her grandmother, according to charges filed Wednesday in Dakota County Court.
Kristin Elyse Frame was charged with one count of theft, two counts of aggregating theft and one count of counterfeiting currency in connection with the case. All but one theft charge is a felony.
Accordnig to a criminal complaint, a woman called Burnsville Police on Oct. 25 on a report of a theft. The woman told police that her granddaughter, later identified as Frame, had pawned a significant amount of jewelry after stealing it from her. The woman said Frame had been living with her since February 2011 at her Burnsville residence and had helped her with money problems of up to $10,000.
The complaint states Frame was helping the woman pay for a car but the victim noticed she had not been making payments. The woman was concerned about her credit score and while searching for a missed payment notice, she found a pawn slip with Frame’s name on it that listed several pieces of her jewelry.
The woman reported it to police, who checked on it and discovered that Frame had pawned more than $6,000 in what amounted to 138 items of jewelry, the complaint states. The value of the jewelry likely far exceeded the $6,000 Frame received.
The victim went to police on Oct. 30 and said Frame quit her job saying she was having medical issues and was going to the Mayo Clinic, but the woman said Frame didn’t have any medical problems that would require that type of care, according to the complaint. The woman also found that about $600 was missing from an envelope she uses at her home to pay bills. The money had been replaced by photocopies of money that were obviously fake.
The woman told police she got in contact with Frame that day, got her to admit to everything and apologized. Frame was taken into custody later that day and told police she took the jewelry without permission. The items amounted to about $6,000 in jewelry from May 2011 to last month.
Frame also admitted to stealing $600 from the woman and making photocopies of the money to try and trick the woman if she looked quickly.
If convicted on all offenses, Frame faces more than 30 years in prison and more than $30,000 in fines.
