A thief who brazenly wore an NFL legend’s ‘priceless’ Hall of Fame ring while trying to flog it to jewellery stores has been jailed for more than two years.
Former wide receiver Andre Reed’s ring was stolen from his London hotel room last October.
Gary Towsey, 39, casually wore the ring – emblazoned with Reed’s name and ‘Pro Football Hall of Fame’ – into two stores in an attempt to try and sell the one-of-a-kind piece valued at £35,000, but which was worth far more sentimentally to its real owner.
The thief was reported to police and subsequently arrested the day he walked out of prison after serving time for a separate crime.
Though no evidence linked him to the theft of 60-year-old Reed’s ‘special’ ring, Towsey admitted charges of handling stolen goods, fraud and burglary of a young woman’s room on another date.
Thief Gary Towsey, 39, was caught on CCTV casually wearing a ‘priceless’ ring he had stolen from the London hotel room of NFL legend Andre Reed and trying to flog it
The one-of-a-kind piece, which Towsey attempted to sell to a jewellers in Leeds, was valued at £35,000, but was worth far more sentimentally to its real owner
NFL star Andre Reed, who played for the Buffalo Bills, poses with his ‘priceless’ 14-carat gold Pro Football Hall of Fame ring
The 14-carat gold band featured 28 diamonds weighing a total of 1.75 carats, a central blue ‘spinel’ gemstone, similar to a sapphire, and customised engravings
A judge has now returned him to prison for a further 25 months.
Inner London Crown Court heard American sports legend Reed, who played 16 seasons in the NFL primarily for the Buffalo Bills, was visiting London ahead of the Bills’ game against the Jacksonville Jaguars at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium last October.
The evening before the match, Mr Reed and his wife returned to the £379-a-night Leonardo Royal near St Paul’s Cathedral and found their hotel door open.
High-value jewellery was missing, including the £35,000 ring and a further 22 loose white stones given to Mr Reed to mark his 2014 induction to the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
The 14-carat gold band featured 28 diamonds weighing a total of 1.75 carats, a central blue ‘spinel’ gemstone, similar to a sapphire, and customised engravings.
A Gucci bag and both victim’s passports were also taken, meaning they couldn’t return home on their scheduled flights.
This also caused Mr Reed to miss a paid private engagement and lose £10,000 in earnings.
The overall monetary cost to the Reeds – encompassing the stolen goods, extra stay costs and loss of earnings – amounted to more than £60,000.
But no evidence found by police linked Towsey to the Reeds’ Leonardo hotel room.
Although no evidence was found by police linking Towsey to the Reeds’ Leonardo hotel room, he admitted charges of handling stolen goods, fraud and burglary of a young woman’s room on another date
In a victim impact statement, ex-sportsman Mr Reed said the ring represented the many achievements of his career
‘I cherished it’: Mr Reed said his ring represented the ‘personal effort, hard work and sacrifice I had put into my playing career’
However, later that month he was caught on CCTV sauntering into a jeweller’s in Leeds attempting to sell the distinctive Hall of Fame ring.
Towsey had walked in wearing the ring and also had the stolen Gucci bag around his neck.
Staff at the jewellers refused to buy the ring as their manager was not present to authorise the deal.
Undeterred, Towsey walked a couple of doors down to a pawnbroker – but they also refused to buy it.
He then asked for the ring to be dismantled and handed back to him in parts, which the shops did between them.
The following day, staff at the jeweller’s became suspicious and searched for the details of the flashy ring and its origins.
They contacted Mr Reed via social media, who confirmed it had been stolen.
This information was passed back to the City of London Police.
In a victim impact statement, ex-sportsman Mr Reed said the ring represented the many achievements of his career.
He said: ‘My Hall of Fame ring was totally unique and meant so much to me.
‘There was only one and it was so very special having been made and presented to me in recognition of all of my NFL sporting achievements.
‘I am really proud of that and I cherished it as I know how much personal effort, hard work and sacrifice I had put into my playing career.
‘The ring is priceless: it was one of a kind and cannot be replaced.
‘It is so unique and unusual that I am surprised it wasn’t identified for what it was.
‘If you search the internet, you will easily find all of the details about it and lots of photographs.
The ring was dismantled but the precious gems were recovered from Towsey’s booked-in property when he was sent to Pentonville for a separate offence
‘It would be impossible for somebody who stole it not to know what it was and the true value of it.’
Another burglary at the Leonardo hotel was reported a few months later, on December 1.
Victim Kimberley Williams had returned to her room after a Christmas function to find Towsey standing in her room.
He initially told the 26-year-old it was his room, before admitting it wasn’t.
The victim fled to her parents’ nearby hotel room and security were called.
While in the room, Towsey took several items of jewellery – including some silver items valued at £1,000 – as well as helping himself to several bottles of alcohol and taking pairs of Ms William’s used underwear.
Andre Reed said he felt ‘unsafe and violated’ when his hotel room was burgled while he was on a trip to London with his wife
Upon fleeing the scene, he left the scattered bottles and a motorcycle helmet and was also caught on hotel CCTV wearing the Gucci bag stolen from the Reeds.
Forensic teams subsequently matched Towsey to the bottles and crash helmet.
Ms Williams said: ‘I came back to [my] room at 10.30pm, when the door to my hotel room was slightly open.
‘I then pushed the door to the room where the man was standing on the right side by the table.
‘He made out it was his room, but I challenged him and he said, ‘Oh yeah, it actually is your room’.
‘I ran to my stepmum’s room and phoned reception.
‘I had jewellery stolen… a necklace, a pair of earrings with a few rings out on the table by the coffee.
‘He also took used underwear and socks.
‘This incident had made me feel uncomfortable, vulnerable and very upset.’
City of London Police’s Det Const Al Collins spent hours piecing together the information.
He tracked Towsey to Pentonville Prison in May of this year, where he was serving time for another conviction.
Towsey refused to come out of his cell for an interview, but DC Collins was able to access his booked-in property and found the precious gems taken from the Hall of Fame ring.
When Towsey was released from prison on June 4 2024, DC Collins met him at the gate and immediately arrested him again.
DC Collins said: ‘This is the type of job you get into policing to solve.
‘Our team has never lost sight of the victims, both at home in the UK and the Reeds in the States.
‘Anyone staying in the City should feel they and their belongings are safe.
‘We will always take this type of criminality seriously and thoroughly investigate all evidential leads, including forensics, to bring those perpetrators to justice.
‘It isn’t always possible to recover people’s belongings that have been stolen so to be able to recover the gems from Mr Reed’s priceless sentimental ring is really gratifying.’
A spokesperson for NFL UK & Ireland said: ‘We would like to thank the City of London Police for their partnership in this investigation and their hard work and professionalism in bringing this offender to justice.’
Detective Chief Superintendent Mandy Horsburgh added: ‘This case exemplifies excellent police work by recovering priceless stolen jewellery and demonstrates our priority of keeping the victim at the heart of everything we do.
‘Due to the hard work and dedication of our officers a prolific burglar who preyed on hotel guests is now behind bars.’
