On 03/05/2026, St. Louis Park Police officers were dispatched to the Twin Cities Gold and Silver located at [ADDRESS REDACTED]., in St. Louis Park, Hennepin County, Minnesota, regarding shoplifting. Upon arrival, officers spoke with the reporting party, the store employee, who stated that a male later identified as JAVANTE JESSE SMITH [DOB REDACTED], Defendant Smith herein, and a female later identified as NAIYA JENAE BURNETT [DOB REDACTED], Defendant Burnett herein, came into the store. Defendant Smith asked the employee to clean up a piece of jewelry.
Before going to the back of the store to do so, the employee placed the rest of scrap gold back into the display case. While she was at the back, Defendant Burnett reached over and grabbed the plastic bag containing the scraps from the case. Defendants fled the store without paying for the items they took. The plastic bag contained 50 pennyweights of scrap gold worth approximately $5,400.00 Defendant Smith description matched that of a suspect that had then committed jewelry thefts in Bloomington, Minnetonka, Hopkins, Maplewood, and Minneapolis.
Officers observed surveillance footage and confirmed that on 02/24/2026, Defendant Smith pawned items in February wearing what appears to be the same sweatshirt. Defendant Burnett was also wearing the same clothing in the Hopkins theft. Officers mapped Defendant Smith’s Call Detain Records (CDRs) for his phone number ending in 5264 which showed Defendant Smith to be near thefts locations. Defendant Smith provided his phone number and information to store employees in Minneapolis and Bloomington when pawning the items.
The phone number was also confirmed by T-Mobile records to belong to Defendant Smith. Reports from other jewelry thefts show Defendant Smith speaking with employees while Defendant Burnett reaches over the counter and takes bags of gold scraps and exits the stores. On 04/01/2026, officers were dispatched to Max’s Jewelry located on [ADDRESS REDACTED] for a report of suspicious activity due to previous thefts in the area. Officers arrived and arrested Defendant Smith after a brief foot pursuit. In post Miranda statement, Defendant Smith admitted to the thefts at the Twin Cities Gold and Silver and also identified Defendant Burnett as the female committing thefts with him.
He stated that he sold the stolen gold because Defendant Burnett did not have her ID with her which was required to sell the stolen gold. He described the place he sold the gold as a “melt place refinery” near University Avenue and Snelling Avenue in St. Paul for approximately $3,550. Officers confirmed that Defendant Smith sold the gold at W E Mowrey Precious Metal Refining on University Ave in St. Paul on 3/5/2026. The employee of the store sent officers a check written to Defendant Smith for the gold in the amount of $3,569.19. The employee also told officers that they bought gold from Defendant Smith on 02/20/2026 for $1,112.40. Defendant Smith also admitted to the other thefts and Defendant Burnett’s involvement.
