West Boca Man Charged With Theft of Rare Coins, Jewelry

Gregory Calabrese (Photo: Palm Beach County Jail)

A 56-year-old Boca Raton man has been charged with grand theft after Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office detectives said he stole jewelry and rare coins valued at about $4,600 from a vendor’s booth at an antique show.

Gregory Calabrese, of unincorporated Boca Raton, was taken into custody Aug. 11 following the execution of a search warrant at his home, according to an arrest report and probable cause affidavit filed in court this week. He was charged with one count of grand theft of property valued between $750 and $5,000, a third-degree felony.

The alleged theft occurred July 31 at the South Florida Fairgrounds during an ongoing antique show, the affidavit states. A deputy responded that afternoon when a vendor reported that a thick Cuban link style gold-plated silver bracelet valued at $1,000 and a Barber 25-cent coin valued at $600 were missing from a display case and briefcase-style display at the booth. The following day, the vendor reported that a three-ring binder containing approximately 400 assorted valuable coins — described as a “penny book” valued at about $3,000 — was also missing from the same time period. The total estimated loss was approximately $4,600, according to the report.

Surveillance video from inside the expo center, the parking lot and surrounding roads showed an unidentified white male, approximately 50-years-old and about 6-feet tall, lingering at the booth for roughly 90 minutes that morning while the vendor set up and assisted other customers, the affidavit says. The man, who was bald and wore a black collared shirt with Harley-Davidson logos, blue or gray pants and black sneakers with white soles, was seen controlling a black rolling bag.

Video captured the man removing the brown binder from a table around 10:05 a.m. and placing it into the bag while others were distracted, the report states. About 30 minutes later, he appeared to knock items from the table onto the floor near the bag, then was observed placing items inside the bag while picking objects up. He left the building with the bag around 10:46 a.m., walked to a dark-colored four-door sedan — described as possibly a Mercedes S-Class with distinctive chrome wheels — and spent several minutes at the vehicle before driving away on Fairgrounds Road.

License plate reader data later linked a 2023 dark blue Mercedes S-Class and to the area at a time consistent with the vehicle leaving the fairgrounds, the affidavit says. The registered owner was listed as Calabrese, whose physical description, motorcycle endorsement, prior ownership of a Harley-Davidson motorcycle and reported New York origins matched details provided by the vendor and observed on video, the report said. A photo array conducted Aug. 10 resulted in the vendor positively identifying Calabrese as the man seen at the booth, according to the report.

A residential search warrant was signed Aug. 10 and executed the next day. With Calabrese’s assistance, detectives recovered a pair of black sneakers with white soles, the brown three-ring binder, a gold-plated silver Cuban-link bracelet, 62 rare miscellaneous pennies previously inside the binder and a black bag, the affidavit states. The specific Barber coin was not located after the vendor said the year might have been 1896 or 1892.

While serving the warrant, Calabrese was said to have told detectives the items were not stolen but had been obtained through trade, then invoked his right to counsel, the report says.