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Police: Pinecrest Resident Burglarized Neighbors' Homes

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PINECREST (CBSMiami) -- A woman is under arrest, accused of stealing $20,000 worth of jewelry and coins from at least three of her neighbors in Pinecrest.

Police arrested 37-year old Jessica Shere Coggins, a mother of three, on Monday morning on burglary and grand theft charges.

Barbara Jacobs realized a few weeks ago that some jewelry was missing.  Police said Coggins had those missing items, as well was jewelry from the Jacob's son's home which is right across the street from Coggins. They were all friends.

"This is where she robbed my mother's jewelry with my identification on it,"said Jacobs while showing CBS4's Ted Scouten the top drawer of her dresser where the jewelry was once stored.

"We know the couple. We have three young kids and my granddaughter babysat for them," said Lambert Jacobs.

The last case was Monday in which Coggins is accused of going into another house across the street while a pet walker was out with the dog.

"She went in while the alarm was off.  He came back not knowing she was in the house and she got locked in. He reset the alarm and she got locked in," said Lambert Jacobs.

Pinecrest Burglary
Items reportedly stolen by a mother of 3 from Pinecrest. Police say she stole around $20K worth of jewels and coins. (Courtesy: Pinecrest Police)

Investigators say the alarm sounded when she left but she was able to make it home before officers arrived. That's when police say she raised suspicion by asking a lot of questions and suddenly decided to put her trash outside  and that garbage can was reportedly filled with incriminating information.

"We went through her trash and when we went thru her trash we found articles that belonged to a second victim. During her arrest, we found articles in her purse that belonged to a third victim," said Michelle Hammontree with Pinecrest Police.

It's the second time she's been booked, accused of taking things that don't belong to her.

"I think it's really too bad. It's sad, unfortunate, but it's life," said Barbara Jacobs.

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