QUEENS — Jewelry belonging to a woman who was robbed at knifepoint nearly six years ago — including a "Daddy's Little Girl" necklace — was found earlier this week at a Jamaica pawn shop, police said.
The 54-year-old woman told police that she was robbed in Staten Island in July 2009 and her 1979 high school class ring as well as several other pieces of jewelry were taken.
"Finding jewelry after that many years is definitely uncommon," a police source familiar with the situation said.
The victim was on the elevator in a building on Park Hill Avenue, she said, when a man wearing a mask entered, pulled out a knife and demanded valuables.
The woman told investigators that she handed over her earrings, a bracelet, necklace, “Daddy’s Little Girl” pendant and a high school class ring marked “St. Joseph H.S. Diamond Jubilee."
The monetary value of the items was not immediately known, but the woman told police that she received many of them from her father and they had sentimental value to her.
The women never reported the robbery, because she was too scared, she told investigators.
Police came across the items while searching an online database which lists valuables brought to pawn shops.
Investigators said the items caught their attention because they were sold by a man who they recognized as a career criminal, sources said.
The jewelry features several distinctive marks and the owner’s name was also engraved on the ring, officials said.
Earlier this week, police arrested Anton Johnson, 52, of St. Albans, who they said brought the items to the pawn shop on Jamaica Avenue, according to the criminal complaint.
Police also recovered another ring, which did not belong to the same victim, sources said.
Johnson was charged with criminal possession of stolen property, officials said.
Johnson — a career criminal, who police said had about 50 prior arrests dating back to 1982, including for burglary, grand larceny and firearms possession — told investigators that he took the jewelry from a residential home in Queens Village, which he said he was renovating.
He sold all the items for about $320, sources said.
Johnson, police said, was released from prison last December from a burglary conviction and was on parole.
It was not clear who stole the jewelry.
Johnson's lawyer did not immediately respond to a phone call seeking comment.
