stolen stereo gear, or other property and the law

danger boy

Being in the media I learn some interesting things now and then.

Today I found out that should a person get anything stolen from them and it's recovered by the police.. it's tough to prove it belongs to them. It may even be given back to the thief who stole if from you by the police themselves.

Say for instance someone breaks into my home and steals a NAD amp from me. I have the receipt and can prove it's mine, right??? Not exactly. The receipt only proves how much I paid for it and when. It does not prove it belongs to me.

So you're saying ok Mr. smartass, why would the police not believe the NAD amp is mine? Without the serial number of the amp, the police will not release it to me. (At least where I live, your local authorities may have different policies).

Here is the part that pissed me off. :mad:

Say for instance you have a "smart" thief, (I know oxymoron). Said thief decides to write down on paper and keep the serial numbers of all stuff he's stolen, including my NAD amp.
If no one claims and can PROVE that NAD amp is mine after 45 days.. if the "smart" thief with your serial numbers has the serial numbers in his posession, the police will release it to him. Because he has "proof" with the correct serial number that he is the owner of my NAD amp.. and I'm screwed.

It's a loophole in the law.. and it SUCKS! Sucks that a thief could steal something from me, get caught, do time or not, and in the end if he was smart enough to write down serial numbers of stolen loot, could in the end still end up with the stolen stereo gear legally. :mad::mad::mad:

So keep serial numbers and photographs of all your valuables. I admit I don't do a good job of it. I will now though.

comfortablycurt

Great advice DB...this is news to me. Thanks for the heads up.

I do usually try to keep records of that stuff. I always write down the serial numbers of my stuff in the owners manuals and I have all of the owners manuals for my various electronics/appliances in a file/folder in my closet. I don't have pictures of all of it though...might have to do that sometime soon.

BeRad

Wow, I had no idea that could all go down like that. I would hope the "smart" thieves decide to go after a bigger haul (more value, less weight) then someones audio equipment.
Definitely a good idea though; to keep photos of all your more valuable possessions for proof in case of fire or theft. Probably best to keep them uploaded somewhere online too, even as attachments in an email to yourself or a private gallery so nobody else has access.

If you really want to be anal, take new pics every week featuring yourself beside said item and holding up a current newspaper.

treitz3

An alarm system, recorded video, along with great relations with the neighbors and a big **** double barrel shotgun will prevent this situation from happening to begin with.

The advice is golden, nonetheless.

comfortablycurt

treitz3 wrote: »

An alarm system, recorded video, along with great relations with the neighbors and a big **** double barrel shotgun will prevent this situation from happening to begin with.

The advice is golden, nonetheless.

I have a security system of my own. An 80 pound Pit Bull. He's the friendliest, sweetest dog in the world 99.9% of the time...but if someone were to break in my house while I'm not there, I don't think friendly would really come anywhere near close to describing it. People think twice about breaking into a house when they see a Pit Bull staring at them from the other side of the door...lol

Kex

danger boy wrote: »

... So keep serial numbers and photographs of all your valuables. I admit I don't do a good job of it. I will now though.

I can't say that I'm exactly surprised. It may vary from state to state of course. In fact, as soon as I saw the title of the thread, with the words "stolen" and "law" I suspected exactly where you were going with this.

Unfortunately, I too am not good about serial numbers and/or photographs. We live in a quiet neighborhood (yeah right! In L.A.?! ... No, but it's true ... really!) and we do have a dog that sounds, and looks very wicked and ferocious. Come to think of it, my wife can be very threatening too ... she's very sporty that way and I'm convinced she'd K.O. any intruder before I would even know what's going on. And yes, she's been know to splat tough guys before on more than one occasion!

danger boy

Zero wrote: »

I'm real sorry to hear of the theft DB. Thanks for at least trying to make a positive out of it by warning others.

umm.. i didn't have anything stolen.. this was just a scenario, what if..

but thanks for your concern

danger boy

that is one vicious looking four legged creature. I would not want to meet up with face to face.

comfortablycurt

Cute dog there. I definitely wouldn't wanna scrap with him! One of my ex-girlfriend had some Pom's...they're cool little dogs.

It looks like your dog is roughly the size of my dogs neck though.:p I'm sure he'd get his **** kicked by your Pom though. My two cats gang up on him all the time and usually come out on top...I don't think he's really trying to hard though...lol

Here's Kymani at about 9 months old. He's almost a year and a half now...and has grown considerably since this picture.

[URL="[IMG]http://i715.photobucket.com/albums/ww160/comfortably_curt/Kymani.jpg[/IMG]"][/URL]

He's my security system...None of my gears going anywhere as long as he's around.;)

Ender

Kex wrote: »

I can't say that I'm exactly surprised. It may vary from state to state of course. In fact, as soon as I saw the title of the thread, with the words "stolen" and "law" I suspected exactly where you were going with this.

Unfortunately, I too am not good about serial numbers and/or photographs. We live in a quiet neighborhood (yeah right! In L.A.?! ... No, but it's true ... really!) and we do have a dog that sounds, and looks very wicked and ferocious. Come to think of it, my wife can be very threatening too ... she's very sporty that way and I'm convinced she'd K.O. any intruder before I would even know what's going on. And yes, she's been know to splat tough guys before on more than one occasion!

Where in LA are you? I was thinking of getting together with any and all Polkies in the LA area. Norm Apter already promised to catch a dinner with me sometime in May or June. Wanna join?

Btw, your pm box is full so I couldn't pm you. Lol.

obieone

I hope that doesn't happen to me. I'd REALLY hate to see what the result was.
Luckily COMMON SENSE hasn't died down here.......Yet.

apphd

Good advice db. S/N and photos also good for insurance (fire/theft/flood etc). As an added step you may also wish to put the last 4 digits of your ssn in an inconspicuous location, where a thief will not see it, but you know it's there for id purposes. i.e. remove butt plate or grips on firearms and mark it there. Electronics can be tougher but be creative, any removable decorative trim, rubber feet, bottom side of a CD/DVD tray, etc.

polktiger

I etch my initials on the back of my electronics for this reason. Sometimes, I include the date of purchase. Sure it degrades the cosmetics, but it is the back, so I don't really care.

zarrdoss

I take pics of the item and a close up of the serial # save it on a file on my computer back it up on my external hard drive then burn it on a disc and put it on file with my insurance co. Also I will take a cover off and put my name and DL # inside so there is no doubt it is mine. Then when I sell it I call the po po and report it stolden and get it back, Just kidding!

bobman1235

So this hasn't happened to you... has it happeend to anyone? Ever? I mean, honestly. It's one thing to be careful with your stuff and insurance but unless you have some kind of evidence of this actually occurring I can't imagine any reasonable LEO/judge letting a thief keep your stuff after he's been caught just because of faulty record-keeping.

zarrdoss

yep happened to a friend of mine, got his house broke into and stuff stolden. He found his stuff on CL and told the Police and they said without proof the stuff was his they would not do anything. Thats why I go to such effort to prevent this.

Pauly

Ive always taken pictures in the event someone gets by my security system....

dkg999

Just an FYI - ever hear of police confiscated and stolen property auctions? There is more than one reason law enforcement agencies have a high burden of proof of ownership for you to get your property back.

tonyb

Stolen gear??? PFFFT !! Nuthin' a 9 mm can't handle.If they get by the dogs first and the trip wire with grenades attached.

dkg999

You guys don't have the hi-res .wav file of a 12 guage pump shotgun racking that plays whenever your intrusion detectors go off?

tonyb

dkg999 wrote: »

You guys don't have the hi-res .wav file of a 12 guage pump shotgun racking that plays whenever your intrusion detectors go off?

Naw...I have the one of the wife screaming her head off,thats enough to scare away the most harden of criminals.:p

jflail2

I'd be paying said thief an "after hours" visit if it really came down to him getting my **** that I worked hard to pay for b/c "that's the rules" according to the police...And it wouldn't be to bring cupcakes or welcome him to the neighborhood...

WilliamM2

comfortablycurt wrote: »

He's my security system...None of my gears going anywhere as long as he's around.;)

My Grandpa and Grandma used to live in a nasty area of Saginaw. They got two trained pit-bulls to protect their property, as they got broken into every time they left the house.

Didn't work, the theives just sprayed neon orange paint in the two dogs eyes. Amazing how effective that is. Those dogs cowered whenever anyone came near after that.

dkg999

Dogs are pretty ineffective as a security means. They are like locks on doors, they keep honest people honest and scare off the theives looking for an easy score. Spray paint, pepper spray, a nice fresh steak, etc., many ways to neutralize the threat.

comfortablycurt

WilliamM2 wrote: »

My Grandpa and Grandma used to live in a nasty area of Saginaw. They got two trained pit-bulls to protect their property, as they got broken into every time they left the house.

Didn't work, the theives just sprayed neon orange paint in the two dogs eyes. Amazing how effective that is. Those dogs cowered whenever anyone came near after that.

That's some complete BS. Those people deserve to have their eyes pried out with screw drivers.





For the most part though, I don't really worry about my house getting broken into. I live in a fairly small town of only 16,000 people...and it's not exactly a rough town. My Pit Bull has two cats to back him up though just in case things get ugly...lol

cnh

danger boy wrote: »

Being in the media I learn some interesting things now and then.

Today I found out that should a person get anything stolen from them and it's recovered by the police.. it's tough to prove it belongs to them. It may even be given back to the thief who stole if from you by the police themselves.

Say for instance someone breaks into my home and steals a NAD amp from me. I have the receipt and can prove it's mine, right??? Not exactly. The receipt only proves how much I paid for it and when. It does not prove it belongs to me.

So you're saying ok Mr. smartass, why would the police not believe the NAD amp is mine? Without the serial number of the amp, the police will not release it to me. (At least where I live, your local authorities may have different policies).

Here is the part that pissed me off. :mad:

Say for instance you have a "smart" thief, (I know oxymoron). Said thief decides to write down on paper and keep the serial numbers of all stuff he's stolen, including my NAD amp.
If no one claims and can PROVE that NAD amp is mine after 45 days.. if the "smart" thief with your serial numbers has the serial numbers in his posession, the police will release it to him. Because he has "proof" with the correct serial number that he is the owner of my NAD amp.. and I'm screwed.

It's a loophole in the law.. and it SUCKS! Sucks that a thief could steal something from me, get caught, do time or not, and in the end if he was smart enough to write down serial numbers of stolen loot, could in the end still end up with the stolen stereo gear legally. :mad::mad::mad:

So keep serial numbers and photographs of all your valuables. I admit I don't do a good job of it. I will now though.

That does sound nuts! But wouldn't it help, if the thief has not violated the serial number to have your product registered with the Manufacturer...Thus if the serial number were in tact, and there is NO GUARANTEE THERE, you could 'prove' you are the original owner by reference to the date bought and the serial number.

Nonetheless, you're right; it's stupid that you could have your stuff handed to the guy who stole it!

cnh

obieone

Deleted. Too EXTREME

hearingimpared

obieone wrote: »

I may be a little insane, but I know how we can fix the prison population, quiet 'peta' down, AND reduce the deficit. Recycle the lifers. you know..... Harvest their organs. If we can't utilize them for organs, use them for lab testing, instead of rats & monkeys?

Too late!

obieone

hearingimpared wrote: »

Too late!

Well, I TRIED to show some civility:rolleyes: Ofcourse looking at Keikos idea makes me feel better:p