Florida jewelry store employee arrested after $150K merchandise theft, fleeing to Panama

LAKE WORTH BEACH, Fla. (CBS12) — A Lake Worth Beach jewelry store owner is seeking justice after detectives say a trusted employee stole $150K in merchandise and later left the country.

Officers with the Boynton Beach Police Department say 46-year-old Zabrina Herrera Acosta, who was arrested on Friday, managed to pawn at least 126 jewelry items between February and November of 2025, netting nearly $87,000.

The victim told deputies she hired Herrera Acosta in February 2025 at YR Jewelry on South Military Trail.

Because the owner was attending to a family matter, she was unable to be at the store as often as usual and trusted Herrera Acosta to handle the store’s inventory.

Investigators say that trust was deeply abused when Herrera Acosta intentionally stole items while hiding in a known surveillance blind spot.

See also: World Cup fans gather outside Palm Beach resort amid Ronaldo rumors

The owner did not report the thefts immediately because she confronted Herrera Acosta, who begged for time to pay her back.

However, after learning that her former employee had left the country for Panama, the owner realized she was never going to see her money or gold again.

When Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office detectives stepped in, they uncovered a massive paper trail consisting of 58 separate pawn tickets stretching from Palm Beach to Broward County.

Pawn shop employees told detectives that Herrera Acosta presented herself as a business owner who sold jewelry for a living. For every transaction, she provided her Panama passport, signed a declaration stating she legally owned the jewelry, and left a fingerprint.

By the time detectives tracked down the shops, only 13 of the 126 items remained in stores, nine of which the owner positively identified as her stolen property.

The store owner later provided detectives with a video recording of their final phone conversation in Spanish, where Herrera Acosta reportedly confessed to the thefts, admitted to selling the jewelry for less than retail value, and promised to pay her back using her grandmother’s gold.

An arrest warrant was signed on January 23, and Herrera Acosta was arrested on Thursday for Organized Scheme to Defraud over $50,000, Grand Theft over $100,000, 29 counts of Dealing in Stolen Property, and 29 counts of False Verification of Ownership to a Pawnbroker.