Affidavit: Man stole, pawned high school band instruments

Published 12:39 am Saturday, March 27, 2021

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A 19-year-old Beaumont man authorities believe stole band instruments and sold them to a pawn shop was indicted this week by a Jefferson County grand jury.

Authorities have linked Jerome Lee Harris Jr. to a March 21, 2020, burglary at Beaumont United High School, 3443 Fannett Road.

According to the affidavit for arrest warrant, an administrator entering the campus discovered the burglary.

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Surveillance cameras showed three males enter the campus building by breaking windows on the back side of the gym door by the locker rooms. Four musical instruments were taken.

On Dec. 10, police were told there was a musical instrument on display at Triangle Pawn, 995 S. 11th St. in Beaumont that belonged to Beaumont United.

Detectives found a King brand French horn. Store records, police said, indicated Harris pawned four instruments and was paid $185.

Harris was arrested Jan. 17 and is in the Jefferson County Correctional Facility on bonds totaling $535,000.

An indictment is not a final conviction of guilt; it is only a ruling by the grand jury that allows the district attorney’s office to proceed with a criminal case.