Come on!!! You go into the Pawn Shop, you can prove the items are yours, you have a Police Officer next to you and you want us to re-imburse YOU????

Part of your business involves taking a risk FFS.

I could see that in order to be guilty of a crime (receiving stolen goods), it might have to be shown that the pawn shop owner knew the goods were stolen.

But title to the property is a separate issue. I can't imagine that it is the rule in any state that if you can show the property is yours, and was stolen, that you don't have the right under the law to have it returned to you, without having to pay the pawnshop owner.

Of course, the pawnshop owner has you over a bit of a barrel. If the item is a $50 radio, say, and you have the police report showing it was stolen, and the receipt for it with the serial number on it, the pawnshop could still refuse to give it back, unless ordered to. They could force you to get the police or courts involved. So, in that case, yeah, it would be "quickest and easiest" for you to pay $25 to get the radio back. But that is scum behavior by the pawnshop, who is essentially holding your radio hostage.

I've said it before, pawn brokers & bail bondsmen take advantage of the weak, when they're at their weakest.

You need to call the state attorney general, if it was across state lines, call the FBI, your congressman, senator, anyone you can think of.

BTW, those cops who did nothing are on the take, no other way that deal makes sense.

And this makes you different from the thief....how....again?

BS.

When I can walk into a shop, ID equipment that is tagged, labeled, serials # matched, police report provided - pretty much any and every possible way to be PROVEN that it's the rightful property of, and stolen from a Fortune 50 company, that's still not good enough? You expect to be paid?

Bite me. Sounds exactly like licensed money laundering to me.

'BTW, those cops who did nothing are on the take, no other way that deal makes sense'

Isn't anyone curious how much I pay the DA to have things done that way?

When I began doing this in the 80's the LEO's usually took the item, normally to be held as evidence in the case. Somewhere along the line they let us hold the item, the reason I was given was it would make the pawnbrokers more 'co-operative'. It didn't matter to me, I have no wish to be in an advisarial relationship with the local cops. My first location was between the sherriff's office and the police station.
Again, the situation being discussed happens so seldom for me, if it was a regular occurrence I'd retire.
Jim

I have had property, furniture, stolen from my house by a neighbor, stored in plain view in his garage. I called the police stating I wanted to file a stolen property report and I knew who the thief was and where the property was. I had receipts, photos, etc showing the property was mine. The cops said it was a civil matter, nothing they could do!! Back to issuing speeding tickets. Cops are totally useless, unless collecting speeding tickets.