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Lunch-hour heist: Man allegedly robbed estate jewelers while on trial

FRANKLIN, Tenn. (AP) – A man on trial for robbery was arrested Friday after the jury delivered a guilty verdict. His crime? Authorities say he pulled a heist while on a lunch break from his trial a day earlier.

The Tennessean reports that police waited for a jury’s decision in Mark Burgin’s trial before immediately charging him in the theft of $45,000 worth of jewelry from a nearby Franklin, Tenn., jeweler.

Burgin had been on trial for the 2009 knifepoint robbery of a man at a truck stop. While on his lunch break Thursday he allegedly grabbed the jewelry and rushed out.

A clerk noticed he was wearing a Rolex watch, and saw that a nearby display watch was missing. The clerk confronted him about the watch and he returned it. But when the clerk noticed several other pieces missing and asked Burgin about them, he fled and apparently returned to court about a block away.

“He was just a grab and run,” said Mike Walton, owner of Walton’s Antique and Estate Jewelry.

Police matched Burgin’s description from witness accounts. His probation was revoked and he spent the night in jail before returning to his trial Friday. He was convicted later that evening.

The robbery was common knowledge around the courthouse, but Judge Robbie Beal kept the news from the jury while the trial wrapped up – other than to note that Friday’s lunch break wouldn’t be as long.

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Information from: The Tennessean, http://www.tennessean.com

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