On the Run Jewel Thief Thwarted by Clever Hudson Valley Business

A man who police say has scammed jewelry stores across the country out of hundreds of thousands of dollars was finally thwarted by a quick-thinking business on Route 9.

Anthony Spencer was arrested back in 2017 for allegedly using a dead man's credit card to fraudulently obtain over $100,000 of jewelry from multiple stores in Connecticut. At the time, NBC News reported that Spencer also had warrants for his arrest in the states of Louisiana and Texas for similar charges.

Spencer, who also goes by the aliases Anthony Ranko and Rocky Franco, was charged with credit card fraud, forgery and criminal impersonation. Now, seven years later it appears that the jewel thief is up to his old tricks.

Poughkeepsie, New York Store Targeted by Suspected Jewel Thief

On Tuesday afternoon, Town of Poughkeepsie Police responded to a call from the Diamond Mine on Route 9 to investigate a customer who was believed to be scamming several jewelry stores in the area.

Police say they questioned the suspect who gave them false information. After further investigation, it was determined that the man was Anthony Spencer; the same person who was accused of scamming jewelry stores in Texas, Louisiana and Connecticut.

Spencer was wanted on a felony arrest warrant out of Connecticut for violating the terms of his probation. Police say he was still on probation after stealing from jewelry stores back in 2017.

Thanks to the quick-thinking of the employees at the Diamond Mine, Spencer was once again caught. Police have charged him with Criminal Impersonation and being a fugitive of justice. He remains in jail awaiting extradition back to Connecticut to face more charges there.