BOCA RATON, FL — A West Palm Beach jeweler handed over a 14-karat gold chain so a customer could inspect it. According to a Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office affidavit, the customer walked out with it and left a fake copper chain on the counter.
That November 2025 encounter at the Sunshine Flea Market on South Military Trail is the basis for felony charges filed against a Boca Raton man, court records show.
Jorge Luis Ruiz Campino, 42, of Boca Raton, was booked into the Palm Beach County Main Detention Center on July 9, 2026, at 10:55 p.m., according to Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office jail records. He faces three charges: dealing in stolen property, false verification of ownership by a secondhand dealer, and grand theft of property valued between $750 and $5,000.
The charges are allegations. Ruiz Campino has not been convicted.
The case began on Nov. 29, 2025, when PBSO Deputy Avila responded to a grand theft call at the Sunshine Flea Market at 1941 S. Military Trail in West Palm Beach, according to the probable cause affidavit sworn by PBSO Detective William Badala.
The jeweler, identified in the affidavit as Jhon Duval Mendoza, told the deputy that a man wearing a green hooded sweatshirt with an Air Jordan symbol on the front and black sunglasses on his head walked up to the jewelry counter and asked to see a 14-karat gold chain, the affidavit states. Mendoza handed him a chain valued at $2,500 so he could inspect it.
While the man was holding the gold chain, he allegedly removed a fake copper chain from his own neck and switched the two, according to the affidavit. When Mendoza walked away from the counter, the man is alleged to have left the fake copper chain behind and walked away with the 14-karat chain without paying.
Mendoza told the deputy he did not know the man and had not given him permission to take the chain, according to the affidavit. He also provided store surveillance video of the alleged switch.
The affidavit says the case was assigned to Badala the next day, Nov. 30, 2025. The detective searched Leads Online, a national pawnbroker transaction database, for 14-karat gold chains and found an individual who "looked identical" to the person captured on the flea market video, according to the affidavit.
That pawn transaction took place at Queen of Pawns 3 at 6080 Okeechobee Blvd. in West Palm Beach on the same day as the alleged theft, the affidavit states. The pawn record, on Florida pawnbroker transaction form #3B2502292, identified the seller as Jorge Luis Ruiz Campino using a Florida driver's license, according to the affidavit. The transaction was for a 22-inch, 14-karat gold Baby Cuban necklace, and the seller received $750 for it, per the affidavit.
Badala wrote that he went to the pawn shop on Dec. 4, 2025, and spoke with store manager Santiago Quintero, who provided the transaction paperwork and pulled the pawn shop's own surveillance video from the sale.
According to the affidavit, the pawn shop video shows a man wearing the same green hooded sweatshirt with an Air Jordan symbol on the front, the same black sunglasses on his head, and the same wristwatch as the man in the flea market video from the previous day. The person in both videos, the affidavit states, also had the same haircut and facial hair.
Mendoza was later shown pictures of the pawned chain and positively identified it as the one taken from his shop, the affidavit says. He told the detective that the chain clasp carried a special logo for his business, Oro Elefante, and that the weight and length of the chain matched.
A latent print report finalized on Dec. 9, 2025, identified a fingerprint on the front of the pawnbroker transaction form as belonging to Ruiz Campino, according to the affidavit.
Badala's affidavit and application for an arrest warrant was sworn before Sergeant Richard J. Segedin on March 12, 2026, records show. A direct file warrant and capias were entered on the court docket on March 17, 2026. Ruiz Campino was booked into the county jail nearly four months later.
At a first appearance on July 10, a judge set bond at $15,000 on each of the two second-degree felony counts and $5,000 on the third-degree felony grand theft count, for a combined $35,000, according to court records. Records also show a Spanish interpreter was present, the defendant was found indigent, a public defender application was filed, and the court entered an order of no contact with the victim.
The case is set for a 30-day return hearing on Aug. 8, 2026, and an initial case conference before Judge Sherri L. Collins on Sept. 17, 2026, according to court records. The Palm Beach County jail record lists no release date.
The allegations have not been proven in court.
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