Man charged after allegedly stealing $10,000 gold necklace from Kay Jewelers

A single necklace can change how a jewelry case looks and how a sales floor feels. After a man allegedly asked to view a $10,000 14-karat gold necklace at Kay Jewelers inside Ocean County Mall, slipped it around his neck and ran, the ordinary act of buying gold at a chain store now carries a little more friction, a little more scrutiny, and a lot less trust in what sits within reach.

Toms River Township police said officers responded to the store at about 7:05 p.m. on April 10 after reports of a “smash and grab.” Investigators later said nothing was smashed. Store employees told officers the man requested to see the necklace, placed it around his neck and fled. He was last seen running on foot through the Macy’s parking lot. Authorities said he was wearing tan glasses and a fedora-style hat.

Police identified the suspect as Jeremy Ruga, 38, of Dorothy, New Jersey, and charged him on April 15 with third-degree theft. Detective Ryan Quinn of the Toms River Police Department is leading the investigation. Ruga was already being held at Monmouth County Jail on unrelated charges and had recently been transferred to Ocean County Jail, where he remained.

For shoppers, the significance reaches beyond one missing chain. 14-karat gold is the workhorse metal of mainstream jewelry retail, durable enough for everyday wear and accessible enough to anchor the cases at mall chains. It is the kind of gold customers often touch first, compare against diamond accents, and buy as an entry point into fine jewelry. But thefts like this push retailers toward tighter handling and more controlled presentation: fewer high-value pieces left out front, more items secured in locked cases, and associates trained to keep a closer hand on merchandise from the moment it leaves the tray.

That caution can shape the shopping experience in subtle ways. The customer asking to inspect a chain may wait longer. A salesperson may retrieve fewer pieces at once. Price pressure can follow, too, as stores absorb the cost of shrink, security, and insurance into already thin margins. In a mall setting, even one fast-moving theft can make the whole counter feel more fortified.

The Ocean County Mall has already seen a far larger jewelry crime. In March 2024, Venzio Jewelers was robbed in an overnight heist that police said involved roughly $1 million in merchandise. With two high-profile thefts in the same mall, the message for retailers is unmistakable: gold may still gleam in the case, but it is now guarded as closely as it is displayed.