Coral Gables Historical Archive
The Times
Wednesday, June 2, 1976, page 2 (of 33)
The page
The text of this pageRead by computer from the scan, so some words may be wrong. The page picture is the original.
Youthful coin thief spared law's penalty
By ERICA MEYER Staff Writer The boy was nervous. He fingered the rare coins in the Gables Coin Shop on Ponce de Leon Boulevard, juggling the 1893 silver dollar and the 1878 three dollar gold piece, unable to make up his mind between them. Store owner Sam Albright, was distracted by another customer and the boy grabbed the two coins and bolted. By the time Albright realized what had happened, the boy was half a block away, ducking into an alley. "I didn't think we'd every get the coins back," Albright said Friday, May 28. The two coins, from the shop at 2348 Ponce de Leon, were valued at more than $1,000. Albright said the juvenile could have gotten $600 to $700 for them on the street. "It took Tony Raimondo's fine detective work and fine attitude with kids to get those coins back," Albright said. Sgt. Raimondo is head of the Coral Gables Police Department's Youth Resources Unit. He got the coins back. Albright now has them and the youthful thief is receiving psychiatric care - but will not be imprisoned. And that, according to Raimondo, is the whole point of the unit. When Raimondo was called to the coin shop after the theft on Wednesday, May 26, another teeneager was there. He said the boy who took the coins was a South Miami Senior High School student. Albright told police that the thief had come into the shop, followed shortly by a second youngster. The first boy left and then the second, then the first returned ... and the second teenager came in again a few minutes later and stayed until police arrived. That's all Tony Raimondo needed to be able to guess that the boys had been working together and that the second one was more than just a passing witness. Raimondo went to the school and told the seocond student that Youth Resources Officers hoped to help him resolve his problems - possible need for recognition and friendship that drove him to assist in the robbery. Raimondo told the youngster he'd rather help kids than lock them up. Consequently, the youngster identified his friend. Albright remembers that after the theft the second boy, who had been a customer of the coin store in the past, repeatedly told him, "Don't blame me. It's not my fault." The boy told Raimondo that he didn't think his friend would go through with the theft. His friend was brought police blotter into the school principal's office. He admitted the theft, but said he had given the coins to a third youngsler to avoid being caught with them. A cousin of the boy who had the coins was sent to find him. The boy with the coins had a police record. Raimondo said the boy was astonished when he brought the coins in and was thanked and dismissed. Raimondo talked to both of the boys who had been in the store. He talked to the young thief's mother and now the teenager is being seen by a psychiatrist. "He just wanted attention," Raimondo said. "We established a rapport. We try to control kids by talking to them." And Albright, the victim, agrees. "I have hope for both those boys," he said. "I'm not the least bit angry. It took a lot of guts for them to come forward and say they did wrong. "That's the first step," Albright added. "I don't see any purpose in being vengeful. They made a mistake and now they have a chance to overcome it."
The Coral Gables Times The Southwest Guide
Florida's Best Suburban Newspaper Serving Coral Gables and South Dade Since 1926 Published Wednesday and Saturday Gables Publishing Co. 4627 Ponce de Leon Blvd. Coral Gables, Fla. 33146 (305) 666-7981 Price: 10 cents per issue, home delivered; $12.50 per year by mail anywhere in the United States. Application to mail at controlled circulation rates is pending at Miami, Fla. Jim Storey General Manager Bea Moss Managing Editor
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