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30-year-old Dennis Michael Pethke housesat for his brother-in-law, William Richey Jr., and his family while they were out of town from February 8th to February 11th. When they returned, they discovered several missing items, including high-end, luxury designer clothing, jewelry, handbags, and collectibles. They asked Pethke if anyone else had been in the house or if the doors had been unlocked while they were gone, and he told them that he was the only one in there. Then, after Richey Jr. told him that he alerted the authorities, Pethke called them and can be heard on a recorded call admitting to stealing over 200 items and selling them to pawn shops, consignment stores, and online retailers. Detectives located and placed a hold on one of the reported jewelry items in a pawn shop out of Murfreesboro. They discovered the seller was Pethke after verifying him by his Tennessee driver’s license. Officers were provided with text messages between the owner of a consignment store and Pethke, stating he wanted to sell several items listed in the police report. The owner was cooperative with the Richey family and willingly returned their items. The owner of the two other stores confirmed that Pethke sold the items and advised officers that he called them, stating he needed to retrieve them because they were stolen. The total cost of the stolen belongings was $459,485 at the time, but they had not finished tallying all their missing things and had only recovered 25 out of the 200 listed. Pethke was taken into custody for theft of property on February 21st.
Dennis Michael Pethke was booked into the Metro Nashville Jail on February 21st, charged with theft. A judicial commissioner set his bond at $100,000.
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