WARREN, Mich. – A couple who had their things stolen in a home burglary is being forced to pay up to get their stuff back.
Ricky Lewis came home July 24 to find thieves ransacking his house in Warren. The suspects made it out the door with a laundry basket full of valuables.
A few days later, Warren police arrested the suspects, tying them to a string of alleged burglaries.
Police said they tracked Lewis’s stolen items at local pawn shops, including Ziedman’s in Detroit and Gianinis Jewelers in Roseville.
But when Lewis and his wife went to recover their items, the pawn shops charged them more than $1,400 in cash.
“I had to actually pay the pawn shop to retrieve my items, so I was violated twice,” said Lewis.
When asked about the incident, the general manager at Ziedman’s defended the business practice and said they upload all purchases on LeadsOnline, a database allowing law enforcement to search for stolen items.
The database is what helped police track down the suspects, but it didn’t allow them to recover the items for the victims.
Warren police Commissioner Bill Dwyer said a pawn shop has the right to keep the items until they’re compensated for the money they spent on the stolen goods.
Dwyer said the pawn shops legally purchased the items, so there’s nothing they can do.
Lewis said laws should be enacted so pawn shops have more accountability.
“They should have to go through the inconvenience before me,” Lewis said. “Because they’re doing it for profit. I had no choice, and they took my things. They’re trying to make a buck, and I’m trying to keep my buck that I work hard for.”
Dwyer said there is a way for victims to get their money back potentially. He said as these types of cases make their way through the courts, the defendants can be ordered to pay restitution to the victims. However, there’s no saying if the suspects will make good on those payments, especially if they’re behind bars.
