Police trace stolen jewelry to pawnshop

Tobias L. Dankert, 32, Iola, and Benjamin C. Soderberg, 41, Waupaca, were charged with burglary, theft, criminal damage to property and receiving stolen property.

On June 25, a Waupaca woman told Officer Paul Benzschawel that she found her door kicked in when she returned home.

Inside the house, she discovered that a jewelry box had been opened and about a dozen rings and 30 necklaces stolen. She was also missing some thyroid pills.

On July 12, Benzschawel discovered that a Waupaca woman had pawned numerous pieces of jewelry at Alluez Rare Coin in Green Bay. The descriptions matched those of the stolen jewelry.

Benzshawel contacted the store. They reported paying $920 for the jewelry and gave Benzschawel a copy of the store’s security video of the transaction.

The video showed three people in the store at the time of the transaction.

Waupaca police identified the people as Soderberg, Dankert and Dankert’s girlfriend.

On July 27, Benzschawel met with Dankert’s girlfriend at the time.

According to the criminal complaint, the girlfriend said Dankert picked her up on July 11 and asked her to pawn some jewelry for him because he did not have any ID. She said he was with a friend, but did not know his name.

She reportedly said Dankert initially told her the jewelry was from his grandmother, then said it was from a friend.

Dankert and his friend, whom police believe to have been Soderberg, allegedly split the $920 and gave the girlfriend $50.

On July 29, the girlfriend called Benzschawel and said she had been texting Dankert about the jewelry. He allegedly responded that Soderberg was responsible for the burglary and he had nothing to do with it.

When she asked him why they split the money, he did not reply, the complaint says.