Gold, guns and cash: Six-figure rural Central Point burglary leads to four arrests
Published 3:30 pm Friday, October 27, 2023
- Jackson County Sheriff's Office detectives recovered this rare antique select fire automatic pistol reported stolen in a $300,000 burglary near Central Point following a search warrant served Oct. 11 in the 900 block of Royal Court in Medford.
Detectives have recovered three guns and more than a dozen rare coins linked to a six-figure burglary outside Central Point, but dozens more coins and $108,000 in cash appear to be long gone.
Four suspects have been charged in connection with the Aug. 22 burglary at a residence on rural Old Stage Road in which more than $300,000 worth of cash and valuables and seven guns were reported stolen, but Jackson County Sheriff’s Office spokesman Aaron Lewis said the case isn’t entirely closed.
Lewis said detectives have only recovered 14 of the 95 rare gold coins reported stolen. They included rare South African Krugerrands, 1-ounce American Eagle gold coins and Canadian Maple Leaf gold coins.
The gold coins, however, were key to unlocking the case.
“The case was really cracked open because of how rare those coins were,” Lewis said. “Each one is valued at around $2,000 — they’re pretty valuable.”
Michael Edward Jason, 53, Jonathon Anthony Kinsella, 51, and Michelle Tawny Kinsella, 43, all of Medford, each face felony charges in connection with the burglary, according to Jackson County Circuit Court records.
The Kinsellas and Jason are accused of aggravated first-degree theft, second-degree burglary and felon in possession of a firearm. Police accuse them of breaking into a property in the 4800 block of Old Stage Road northwest of Central Point and stealing a safe containing the coins, cash and at least three guns.
During an Oct. 5 search of Medford properties in the 1600 block of Hollyhock Drive and the 300 block of Mary Street, police recovered a stolen gun and gold coins, along with roughly 3.5 ounces of narcotics that included methamphetamine and fentanyl.
A fourth suspect, Curtis Lee Hollins, 68, is charged with being felon in possession of a firearm, felon in possession of body armor and possession of a prohibited firearm or silencer. Those charges stem from a search warrant served Oct. 11 at his home in the 900 block of Royal Court in Medford.
According to court filings, the search warrant followed accusations that Hollins traded a gun with a burglary suspect in exchange for two of the firearms stolen Aug. 22 — a rifle with a scope and a Luger handgun made in the 1930s.
Detectives with the sheriff’s office’s combed pawn shops locally and in California in search of the high-value coins and weapons.
“Each search warrant uncovered more evidence that led to more search warrants that led to other arrests,” Lewis said. “It’s still an active case.”
Police have also yet to recover most of the gold coins and any of the $108,000 cash. Lewis said that cash in particular is “very, very hard to recover after it’s been stolen.” He asks anyone with information in the case to call the sheriff’s office’s tip line at 541-774-8333 and reference case No. 23-4864, or to submit a tip via the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office mobile phone application. Lewis said that “any information is valuable.”
“Truthfully, that app is the easiest way,” Lewis said, adding that tips submitted on the app are more quickly delivered to patrol sergeants out on duty. “It can lead to an arrest a lot quicker.”