Doktor Posted January 12, 2018 Share Posted January 12, 2018 (edited) Based on the timeline here, the store knew when they bought the books that they were stolen (hence why the got ID), which is fine... sorta. It skirts the "receiving stolen property" laws because they were trying to be helpful & probably figured "I'll get my money back when they arrest the guy tomorrow/the next day" & couldn't just hold the guy or the books there waiting for the cops to show up. (or at worst, realized it shortly after buying the books) But it seems like, when the cop got in an accident & the investigation got delayed & the perp didn't get nabbed in a very short period of time, they started realizing "by now, he's blown the money & they won't be able to recover my payment for the books. I'm going to be left holding the bag" and figured he'd sell them & recoup as much of his money as he could. And that's when he's probably going to be falling into selling stolen good charge territory. I mean, I feel for the shop owner if he was just trying to do someone a solid & realized later he was gonna get screwed because of a cop getting into an accident & an investigation getting delayed/neglected. But that doesn't excuse selling books that he KNEW before he even bought them were stolen, was aware that YOU knew he had them, and was aware that a police investigation was ongoing on the matter. That's just trying to cover their to the point of near-criminal (or criminal) behavior. Edited January 12, 2018 by Doktor Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
comicwiz Posted January 12, 2018 Share Posted January 12, 2018 (edited) 2 hours ago, W16227 said: In the US --- it is a crazy mix of what is required ( varies by state). Someone posted in a thread about pawn shops and accountability for a stolen goods purchase. I was curious so I did some searching - Most of what I found was the different levels of ID/tracking the shops have to do when buying goods. If they pick up a stolen item - they are not necessarily required to return it. Many will have to have seller ID information for the police and be required to report . In many cases - the individual would have to take the pawn shop to civil court to get the item back ( US law state by state)..... Pawn shops are licensed buyers of used merchandise, are loan providers, and use "pawned" merchandise as collateral. While it is true that laws vary state by state, I know for certain a comic shop doesn't operate neither under the same license or laws, and are not exempt from stolen property charges. This is particularly concerning since the comic shop owner allegedly knew these were stolen. We are still light on some details, particularly whether the officer who had requested proof of ownership proceeded to file the report. If he did, it wouldn't matter that he wasn't reachable. The length of time that has passed is certainly something that doesn't help the situation, but knowingly selling stolen goods is not something that should have happened no matter how long after the robbery took place, or was first reported. Edited January 12, 2018 by comicwiz Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PunisherPunisherPunisher Posted January 12, 2018 Share Posted January 12, 2018 First thing I do when I get new slabbed books is take photos, serials included If that's not enough proof I don't know what is, though saying that, cops would think I broke in to someone's house just to take photos of slabbed books and leave. Now pass me the ...this show is interesting Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
W16227 Posted January 12, 2018 Share Posted January 12, 2018 4 minutes ago, comicwiz said: Pawn shops are licensed buyers of used merchanise, are loan providers, and use "pawned" merchandise as collateral. While it is true that laws vary state by state, I know for certain a comic shop doesn't operate under the same law, and are not exempt from stolen property charges. This is particularly concerning since the comic shop owner allegedly knew these were stolen. We are still light on some details, particularly whether the officer who had requested proof of ownership proceeded to file the report. If he did, it wouldn't matter that he wasn't reachable. The length of time that has passed is certainly something that doesn't help the situation, but knowingly selling stolen goods is not something that should have happened no matter how long after the robbery took place, or was first reported. oh - not trying to justify the action at all - the reference I had was a pawn shop ---- and really was in reference to items they purchased outright.... In many cases - individuals can be charged with receiving stolen property if they purchase stolen goods. Given that the books were identified - ( and the info we have ) - at a minimum the store was sleazy as all get out. Even if the only contact they had was with the OP --- what would it actually hurt for them to put a hold on the books for a brief period just to be sure... Some states in the US - also have regulations for any used goods re-seller. My state has some - but they appear to target the "cash for gold" guys more than collectors.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jking3437 Posted January 12, 2018 Share Posted January 12, 2018 (edited) Wouldn’t the store be insured just for this reason. op contacts store says books stolen store pays thief or their associate for books, cops come and get books , store still out of money store opens insurance claim, gets money back ? Yes /No ? Or store buys books , thief gets caught, goes to Court, judge orders thief to give money back to store , or store sues thief Edited January 12, 2018 by Jking3437 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jking3437 Posted January 12, 2018 Share Posted January 12, 2018 My reasoning behind this, is why did the store sell the books !! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Artboy99 Posted January 12, 2018 Share Posted January 12, 2018 5 hours ago, thehumantorch said: That's how I see it. The comic shop knowingly sold stolen items and that they couldn't contact the officer doesn't change that. THIS. And how would a person provide receipts of comics purchased? I have some I have owned nearly 40 years! The comic store I bought them from no longer exists. A book I have I obtained from a person who is now deceased. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ygogolak Posted January 13, 2018 Share Posted January 13, 2018 2 hours ago, Jking3437 said: Wouldn’t the store be insured just for this reason. op contacts store says books stolen store pays thief or their associate for books, cops come and get books , store still out of money store opens insurance claim, gets money back ? Yes /No ? Or store buys books , thief gets caught, goes to Court, judge orders thief to give money back to store , or store sues thief I wouldnt insure that. Where is your receipt that you bought them? Then they come up stolen. You give them back, boom cash in your pocket and your friend gets their books back. 2 hours ago, Artboy99 said: THIS. And how would a person provide receipts of comics purchased? I have some I have owned nearly 40 years! The comic store I bought them from no longer exists. A book I have I obtained from a person who is now deceased. Let alone how many comics are bought at conventions. I think they are just asking for proof of ownership. There really isn't a great way to prove it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spidrvacc Posted January 14, 2018 Share Posted January 14, 2018 If the comic shop felt like they had to sell the least they could have done was document the sales so that they can be recovered. Comic shop did the wrong thing by selling but if thats the route they decided to take to get there money back atleast get info on who you sold books to . You know eventually owner and cops will be coming. Something dont sound right. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
comicdonna Posted January 14, 2018 Share Posted January 14, 2018 I wonder if the OP will post updates? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MustEatBrains Posted January 14, 2018 Share Posted January 14, 2018 It seems beyond sketchy to me the store would knowingly sell books they knew were stolen. Add on top of that the fact they knowingly sold stolen books and failed to take the info down of who purchased them. WTF. I'd be pretty pissed at the store owner if it was me. SteppinRazor 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mercury Man Posted January 14, 2018 Share Posted January 14, 2018 On 1/11/2018 at 8:49 PM, DustinRidgen said: By now the comic store already sold the books.Knowing full well they were stolen. Well, that's just about as scumbag-ish as you can get. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteppinRazor Posted January 14, 2018 Share Posted January 14, 2018 3 hours ago, MustEatBrains said: It seems beyond sketchy to me the store would knowingly sell books they knew were stolen. Add on top of that the fact they knowingly sold stolen books and failed to take the info down of who purchased them. WTF. I'd be pretty pissed at the store owner if it was me. Yeah, nothing about the store selling them is good Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KPR Comics Posted January 14, 2018 Share Posted January 14, 2018 Burgled. Just sayin. entalmighty1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prez Posted January 14, 2018 Share Posted January 14, 2018 Saw this post on Central City Comix’s Facebook page. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MustEatBrains Posted January 14, 2018 Share Posted January 14, 2018 23 minutes ago, prez said: Saw this post on Central City Comix’s Facebook page. Kind of a non-response response. I don't use facebook, but someone could direct them over to this thread for comment. Larryw7 and SteppinRazor 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aardvark88 Posted January 15, 2018 Share Posted January 15, 2018 Recommend that we take a step back, and let the 2 proprietors of Central City Comix sort this out with the local Surrey, BC Police. Tony S 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony S Posted January 15, 2018 Share Posted January 15, 2018 Something not mentioned by the OP is just how much time expired between the call from the comic book store saying they had the books and then the comic book store selling them. Days? Weeks? Months? Years? It took time to get reciepts. It took time to get a new Detective. How MUCH time? The only time frame given here was "it took some time" for a new detective to be assigned. If the comic book store sold the books a few weeks later, it sounds as though they were trying to unload the books and not be out the money they had paid for them. If it was six months later after the comic store made repeated unanswered attempts at contacting the police about the status of the alleged theft and investigation, that has a a different feel to it. If the police wanted the books for evidence, why didn't they take them? And if the police only said "get together receipts and take them to the comic book store to pick up your books" - and the comic book store was informed of that - then why did it matter if a detective was currently assigned? Couldn't the OP just go to the comic book store with said receipts? I'm saddened when anyone's books get stolen and even more saddened when the thieves get away with it. If only a few weeks passed before the books were sold, that sounds bad. But if it was months then are business owners somehow required by law to be unpaid depositories of stolen goods while things drag out? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CAHokie Posted January 15, 2018 Share Posted January 15, 2018 All good points. Not for sure we are ever going to get an answer to any of them though. Tony S 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fan Boy Posted January 15, 2018 Share Posted January 15, 2018 According to the OP, he posted last Thursday said his 8 slabs were stolen. Then Greggy posted to mention this: On 2018-01-12 at 7:47 AM, greggy said: Per his FB account, these books were stolen around November 7, 2017 and six of the books were listed. What were the other two? About November 7, 2017? That is now two months since. That are the questions would like to know, whatever happened between these dates? Why so long until the OP decide to post here? How long was the officer’s injury? Too many holes in the story. Like Aardvark88 said. We should step back and let them figure out. Hope something can be resolved in good news at the end. Tony S 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
