robbers and pawn shop tickets

[shaun25]

hello my name is shaun and my question is:
lets say someone breaks into my house and steals some things (tv, computer, ect.)
and then sells them to a pawn shop. then the guy gets caught with the receipts, or tickets for the the sale of the stolen goods. if the items are still at the pawn shop would the police be able to retrieve them, considering the fact that they have proof they are infact stolen?

thanks

[retdetsgt]

Yes. We do it all the time.

[GoDirectly2Jail]

Yes. That is why pawn shops are loathe to take in stolen items. They are out the money they paid to the thief, and they are out the item when the police seize it.

[marinepilot]

Hello Shaun, and first of all, allow me to say Welcome to RP from the Florida Panhandle! This is a great site and I see you've already figured out that you can ask verified Law Enforcement Officers all kinds of questions. Usually we ask our newest members to go to the New Member Introductions section and post an introduction thread telling us a little about yourself. Coming in to our online home and just hammering us with questions without introducing yourself is considered bad form. Also, don't forget we have a very extensive Search function, so dig in and explore the space, and you might find your question has already been asked and answered.

Also, I am confused as to your question. Are you a writer looking for advice on a book or screenplay you're writing? Because you completely skipped over the Ask-A-Cop section (which you had to be in to get to this section) and posted your regular question in the Ask-A-Cop: Writers Questions section. I'm moving your thread to the correct forum, and in the future, please try and post your thread in the correct forum, you'll find you get more answers that way.

[greg72982]

Here the victim usually has to buy their things back for the price the pawn shop paid. That way the pawn shop isnt out any money. You then try to get that money repaid via restitution.

The victim usually never sees the money anyway so it's basically like they are victimized twice.

[retdetsgt]

Here the victim usually has to buy their things back for the price the pawn shop paid. That way the pawn shop isnt out any money. You then try to get that money repaid via restitution.

The victim usually never sees the money anyway so it's basically like they are victimized twice.

I think that's the way it is here. We have several detectives who do nothing but work pawn shops and continually check their records against stolen property reported. Although we have a lot of ordinances governing them, if we took away the stuff and didn't get them reimbursed, they would not be at all cooperative.

We can yank the license of one who blatantly takes in stolen property though so we have that leverage so they have some incentive to be a little careful at least. But if we just took their stuff away, it would set up an adversarial relationship between the pawn shops and us and a lot less would be recovered over time.

[greg72982]

I think that's the way it is here. We have several detectives who do nothing but work pawn shops and continually check their records against stolen property reported. Although we have a lot of ordinances governing them, if we took away the stuff and didn't get them reimbursed, they would not be at all cooperative.

We can yank the license of one who blatantly takes in stolen property though so we have that leverage so they have some incentive to be a little careful at least. But if we just took their stuff away, it would set up an adversarial relationship between the pawn shops and us and a lot less would be recovered over time.

Yeah and I find the pawn shops around here are generally good to work with...never heard any cops complain of them being uncooperative either...