A Texas man who stole a $30,000 Rolex from a vehicle at a Hendersonville Sam's Club was sentenced to 14 years in prison.

Sumner County Circuit Court Judge Jennifer S. Nichols sentenced Patrick R. Smith, 39, of Houston on Oct. 2 after a jury convicted him on June 25 of theft of property over $10,000, burglary of an automobile and possession of burglary tools, Sumner County Source reported.

The case traced back to Nov. 11, 2023. A married couple visited Genesis Diamonds in Nashville to have the husband's Rolex appraised. They then drove to Sam's Club in Hendersonville and left the watch inside their Chevrolet Tahoe while they shopped. When they returned, they found a window had been broken and a backpack containing the Rolex and other belongings was missing.

Hendersonville Police determined the couple had been followed from Genesis Diamonds to Sam's Club, according to Sumner County Source. Surveillance video showed a black Dodge GT Charger trailing the victims. A person got out of the Charger, approached the Tahoe and returned to the vehicle.

Detectives identified the theft as "jugging," a scheme in which criminals follow people from jewelry stores or financial institutions and later steal their valuables.

The sting

Four days after the theft, detectives returned to Genesis Diamonds and spotted a silver Lexus parked in the same area where the Charger had been seen. They staged a ruse: a detective carried a large Genesis Diamonds jewelry box to an undercover vehicle, as if completing an expensive purchase.

The Lexus followed the detectives about 22 miles from Nashville into Hendersonville before police stopped the vehicle on Rockland Road. Smith was identified as the driver.

Officers found a window punch, cut-resistant gloves, a homemade license plate concealment device and about $8,194 in cash inside the vehicle. A forensic examination of two seized cellphones turned up photographs of the stolen Rolex, text messages with images of the watch and internet searches related to Genesis Diamonds, Rolex watches and Nashville jugging.

Criminal history

At the sentencing hearing, prosecutors Christopher V. Boiano and Tara A. Wyllie argued Smith's criminal history warranted a lengthy prison term, according to the Hendersonville Standard. Smith had a 2006 aggravated robbery conviction in Texas that resulted in a 15-year prison sentence. He also had a 2020 federal conviction for conspiracy to interfere with interstate commerce by robbery.

Nichols found that Smith committed the current offenses while on federal supervised release. She determined he qualified as a professional criminal who had knowingly made criminal activity a major source of his livelihood.

Smith was sentenced to 14 years in the Tennessee Department of Correction. Anyone with information about similar crimes can contact the Hendersonville Police Department.