Same victim robbed twice in last month
A Gillette Woods home was robbed for the second time last week, while two suspects in the previous robbery at that home were in jail.
The Polk County Sheriff’s Office is investigating a robbery that occurred at Braewick and East Park Drive in the Tryon Township last week. The victim came home on Saturday, March 26 to find the home had been robbed.
Chief Deputy Calvin Atkins said a small safe was taken from the home last week. In the robbery in February, jewelry and prescription medicine were taken.
The East Park Drive home was one of several to be robbed in February in the Gillette Woods and Lake Lanier areas. In most of those incidents, items such as jewelry were stolen from residences during the day when no one was at home.
The sheriff’s office has no suspects yet in last week’s robbery. Charges are pending on John Jacob Kessler, 42, of Hendersonville, in connection with the East Park Drive break-in that occurred in February. Kessler was arrested on March 1 and is still being held at the Greenville County Detention Center on charges of grand larceny, three counts of second-degree burglary and one count of petit larceny.
Karen Phillips Byrd, 38, of Chesnee, S.C., was also arrested in connection with the February robberies and pled guilty on March 23 in Polk County District Court to two counts of possession of stolen goods. Byrd is currently serving a 120-day jail sentence for the February crimes.
Atkins said there is no way to know if someone connected to Kessler and/or Byrd committed last week’s robbery or if it was a coincidence that the same home was robbed twice.
Atkins urges residents to keep all doors and windows locked as some entries have been made through unlocked doors and windows.
Anyone with any information regarding the East Park Drive robbery last week is urged to contact the Polk County Sheriff’s Office at 828-894-3001.
No court date has yet been scheduled for Kessler in Greenville County for the February robberies, but a bond hearing will be held tomorrow, Thursday, March 31, through the Greenville County Solicitor’s Office and court.
Kessler is being held on a $55,000 bond and is being represented by attorney Randall Chambers.