Police work with pawn shops to identify stolen items

RUSK COUNTY — A collectible pistol that was reported stolen three decades ago and ended up in a pawn shop is back in the hands of its original owner, and now law enforcement depict how they work with shops to identify stolen items. According to our news partner KETK, on Friday, a Camp County lawyer who bought the pistol at a pawn shop returned the firearm to Gordon Allen, World War II veteran and original owner. “Sometime the wheels of justice move slow but they still move,” Allen said.

Rusk County Sheriff Johnwayne Valdez said finding stolen guns at pawn shops is not a common occurrence, but it does happen. Unlike 30 years ago, when technology was limited, law enforcement and pawn shops now work together to check items brought into businesses. Valdez said pawn shops are required to put every item they purchase into a database, especially guns. “That database is vast,” Valdez said. “It’s literally every pawn shop in the state of Texas.”

The database includes serial numbers, which is especially important with firearms and gives law enforcement the ability to see if an item sitting in a shop was stolen.

“You gave us the serial numbers to it, we would put it in that database, and it came up in a pawn shop in Midland, we’ll know it’s there,” Valdez said. If items turn out to be stolen, Valdez said pawn shops have always showed an urgency to work with the law.  “Pawn shops have been very supportive of law enforcement and show a willingness to get the stolen items back to their owners,” Valdez said.

Most of the time, pawn shops can be trusted.

“You stand a very good chance of getting a clean weapon,” Valdez said. Valdez said he believes with current advancements in technology, Allen would have gotten his pistol back, much sooner.