Pinnacle Business Management (Prev SRCI)

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**Car dealer reports jewelry stolen from business**

2/10/2010 3:32 AM

Car dealer reports jewelry stolen from business

By Kathie O. Warco, Staff writer [e-mail]

A Peters Township man told Canonsburg police Monday that $225,000 in jewelry was stolen from a safe in a cabinet inside his office at his used car dealership.
Vincent LoCastro of 102 Standing Rock Drive told police that jewelry was being sold as part of his LoCastro & Associates Inc. jewelry business.

LoCastro told police that he got a call Sunday morning from a member of his cleaning service who reported finding the front door to the dealership unlocked. A member of the cleaning crew also reported to LoCastro that two windows were found unlocked the previous week.

After the cleaners were done, they locked up the business. An employee also came and checked the door later Sunday morning, finding it locked.

LoCastro said most of the jewelry was in a silver, hard-sided briefcase kept in the bottom drawer of the cabinet. The briefcase also was stolen.

Police said there was no sign of forced entry into the building. There were pry marks on the right side of the filing cabinet. LoCastro told police that he found a crowbar on a shelf in an unused office.

The collection reportedly included a Terry Bradshaw 1979 Super Bowl ring valued at $75,000 and a Joe Greene 1974 Super Bowl ring valued at $60,000.

Bradshaw donated all four of his Super Bowl rings, along with other personal memorabilia like his Hall of Fame ring and bust, to his alma mater, Louisiana Tech University, in April 2006. Canonsburg police Detective Al Coghill said the ring may be a second design made for family members.

LoCastro told police the jewelry is not insured.

LoCastro was charged last week by state police with multiple violations including 338 counts of applications for certificate of title and more than 500 counts of violating rules for registering vehicles at his dealership, All Pro Auto Mall. He is also charged with theft by failure to make required deposit of funds and tampering with public records.

In December, LoCastro was indicted in federal court for allegedly using another person's personal information to obtain financing for nine luxury cars. He was charged with identity theft.

He is awaiting a March hearing before county Judge Janet Moschetta Bell on hundreds of charges filed by state police claiming fraudulent business practices at the dealership in 2007 and 2008.

http://www.observer-reporter.com/OR/Story/02-05-2010-LoCastro-charged-