Jeremy Bell Lewandowski of Lakeview, charged with participating in the theft of a car and other items from his mother, made a first appearance in Baxter County Circuit Court Thursday and entered a not guilty plea to the charges against him.
Lewandowski's mother said her 38-year-old son and two of his friends from Branson arrived at her home on County Road 276 in the Lakeview area in mid-May, and she allowed them to stay for the night.
She said the next morning, she saw her son's two friends, a male and female, loading belongings in their car, and she noted they were taking a brown-colored lock box belonging to her. The box contained prescription medications and a $20 gold piece set in a gold bezel and hung on a gold chain. The piece was valued at $4,000.
The woman said she mentioned what she had seen to her son, and he said he would go after his friends. Lewandowski took his mother's car. The mother called the Baxter County Sheriff's Office after Lewandowski did not return the car, nor contact his mother.
The two friends were later identified and were said to be living in Branson. Branson police and the Taney County Sheriff's Office became involved. Information was provided that the couple and Lewandowski had worked at a motel in Branson, but the manager at the business told police he had "run them off" approximately three days before the police contacted him.
Pawn shops in the Branson area were checked, and information was developed that the male guest, identified as Brandon Mays, had sold items, including the gold coin,in Springfield pawn shops. He was paid almost $1,200 for the gold pendant according to investigative records.
A photo of the gold coin and chain was sent to local investigators by the Springfield Pawn Shop where it was sold and identified by the victim and other sources as the one she owned and that had been taken from her home.
Mays was arrested and booked into the Baxter County jail on June 10th. He made a first appearance in Baxter County Circuit Court June 23rd and entered a not guilty plea to charges related to the Lakeview thefts. He is free on $10,000 bond. The 32-year-old Mays is scheduled to reappear in Circuit Court September 8th.
The Baxter County Sheriff's Office has an outstanding warrant for the female guest identified as 28-year-old Star Lynn Gann.
Lewandowski was arrested and booked into the Baxter County Detention Center August 30th. If he makes bond and is released from jail, it was indicated he would live with his mother, the victim in the case. Judge Gordon Webb put restrictions on Lewandowski in the event he did bond out of jail, including an 8 p.m. curfew and a requirement that he be subjected to random drug testing.
Judge Webb ordered Lewandowski to reappear in Circuit Court September 8th.
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