Police warn shops about felons

Spokane County Sheriff Mark Sterk sent a message this week to area pawn brokers and second-hand store owners reminding them that they could face criminal charges if they pay for items from convicted felons.

Sterk sent registered letters, some of which were received Tuesday, to the 30 pawn shops in the Spokane area. The letters, which also went to antique dealers and second-hand stores, remind the proprietors about the potential crime and provided an updated list of about 300 convicted felons whom they are barred from paying money for goods.

The idea is to make it harder for thieves to profit from stealing, Sterk said.

“We have been noticing more stolen property going through the pawn shops,” Sterk said. “We are concerned. We want to try to educate first before we take enforcement action.”

State law allows law enforcement to charge pawn shop operators with a gross misdemeanor if they knowingly pay for property from anyone convicted of robbery, burglary or trafficking in stolen property, sheriff’s Detective Mark Stewart said.

For years, property crimes detectives have been working with pawn shop owners to make it easier to track stolen goods. Currently, about 19 of the 30 pawn shops in Spokane, Spokane Valley and unincorporated county file electronic reports to the sheriff’s office for every transaction, Stewart said.

Larry Karlson, owner of Axel’s Pawnshop, 3301 E. Sprague, said he helped the county develop the software to make that reporting work.

“We live in this community,” Karlson said. “It’s in our best interest, not as pawn brokers but as citizens, to help solve crime.”

The electronic database does not automatically alert law enforcement if a serial number comes up as stolen property. Investigators must first get a police report and then use that information to search the database, Stewart said. The electronic files now make quick work of the searches that once took days to search by hand.

For example, Spokane Valley Police officers entered Charles Lee Prater’s name into the system two weeks ago and got several hits, Stewart said.

Prater, 46, and his girlfriend “pawned dozens and dozens of items, all of which he acknowledged were stolen,” Stewart said. “He had pawned dozens of items at about four different shops.”

Stewart would not say which pawn shops Prater used. “There’s obviously the argument that they didn’t know,” he said.

Some of the items Prater pawned had been purchased with fraudulent checks, Stewart said. Prater told investigators that he got the other stolen items from car prowling and garage burglaries.

Prater and his girlfriend, Ostennia Curry, 48, were both arrested June 30, less than a week after they bonded out of jail on several other property crimes.

Prater now faces 33 felony counts of various property crimes and Curry faces five felony counts of property crimes and one charge of possession of drugs.

Karlson, who serves on the board of the Washington State Pawn Brokers Association, said most pawn shops survive by making small loans. He said crime affects all businesses, not just pawn shops.

“Do we become victims to these people, sure,” Karlson said. “They show up anywhere.”

State law requires that pawn shop employees hold any property for 30 days before it can be put up for sale. They also must check the seller’s identification, list all serial numbers and have the seller provide a signature, Karlson said. That information is then sent either electronically or by paper to the sheriff’s office.

In his 15 years of owning a pawn shop, Karlson said he has occasionally had victims come in and identify goods that had been stolen from them.

“Because of our record-keeping, we can track down who brought it in, the date, what time and have a signature on file,” he said. “It can lead to a great tip.”

However, Sterk said the sheriff’s office has received reports from victims who said they found their goods only to be told by pawn shop brokers that they must pay to get them back.

“It’s happening quite a bit. That’s not right. That’s ridiculous. That shouldn’t be happening,” Sterk said. “We will secure that evidence and we will return it back to the owners.”

Karlson, who was one of three pawn brokers willing to talk Tuesday on the record, reiterated that it’s in the pawn owner’s best interest to work with law enforcement.

“My grandparents were the victims of a daytime burglary. I’ve had things stolen out of my home,” he said. “If they come in and we can help solve a crime, that’s a positive thing. We’ve got to do all we can to get these people.”