Stolen Excal 1000 Recovery Help

[Guzz1]

Wait 30 days Go to the pawnshops Like you r shopping . When you spot your detector ,walk out and call the detective thats working your case , Have him meet you at the pawn shop , and go in together ,, And confront the owner , yes you will have to pay to get your stuff back ,Then the pawn shop guy then has to have the thief arrested . Charges will be falsifying pawn slip and dealing in stolen property (felony) Then u can go for restitution and get your money back . This crap just happen to me , I got lucky and got all my stuff back , and the person is in Jail and I got my money back that I laid out to the crooked pawn owner ..... Hope this helps Guzz

 

[Critterhunter]

I have never heard that you must buy your property back from the pawn broker. Maybe that's only in certain states? But even then I can't see how they got that law passed. Well, I know how...they greased some palms of people in government writing those laws. In my opinion if an individual can not legaly expect receive his money back from you because he bought your stolen goods then how could a business expect to get away with that? Makes no sense to me.

I would NOT call pawn shops asking for an Excalibur. That's too specific and they are likely to say "No" even if they have one because how many people call pawn shops looking for a very specific item in a very specific hobby. Remember that these people deal with crooks and the people that had their goods stolen on a daily basis. They know what to watch for in a victim who is looking to recover his items and will most likely tell you they don't carry such-n-such brand X just to avoid having to deal with you or the police. They can smell that kind of stuff based on what questions you are asking on the phone.

Just call them and say you lost you're expensive wedding ring and your wife is going to kill you if you don't find it. Tell them you want to buy a really good detector to try to locate it. Ask them if they have any for sale under $1500. Mentioning that high of a number will get their attention REAL quick. Now they think they've got a guy with a lot of money who's lost an expensive ring and will spend whatever it takes to stay out of trouble with his wife. You've got the story, the motive, and more importantly the money to make these people bend over backwards to make sure they will be happy to help you.

I agree with the above...once you find it don't say a word. Go outside and call the police and wait for them to show up. Make sure you've already filed a very detailed police report describing the machine. Include anything you can remember down to a scratch on the shaft or other unique details. Keep a copy with you incase you're not in that city where they might not have it on file.

One thing to remember...More than likely the thief if not going to keep the detector. He's probably a crack head or something and will sell anything he can get his hands on to buy more drugs. This is good news for you. You simply have to keep your eye out for when that machine turns up for sale. These guys will often sell these things to one person who then will take those items and sell them on Ebay/Craig's List/Pawn Shops/Etc to make a profit. They give the crook $40 so he can go buy more rocks and then make their money re-selling the item. For that reason it might not turn up for sale for a few weeks to a month.

Please keep us informed on this.

 

[erikk]

What I do to my Excals to help identify them in the event they are stolen (I build my own shafts so I can spot them a mile away) What I do is peel back the rubber end cap and engrave my old service number into the plastic and replace the cover with a bit of goop. That way if I do spot it in a Pawn Shop or someone using it on the beach I can get the police and have the person explain how my service # got on his detector.

 

[MHirschmann]

Hello everyone and thank you all for your amazing help, i really appreciate all of you taking time out of your days to help me out, it really is nice to see that there still are some good people out there. Julien, i really appreciate all the research you have done for me, that was really above-and-beyond nice of you. Erikk, your advice is great for others of you that still have your machines. I did modify my machine in ways that would make it absolutely easily identifiable to anyone looking for it but as i dont have a picture of it, i cant share it with you guys. I have been spending every bit of my free time following your guys' advice and i am doing everything in my power to find our belongings. as promised, i will keep you all updated and let you know the good news as soon as i have it. the detecting world is WAY too small for nobody reading this forum to see it or buy it sometime in the near future. I just hope that when someone sees it or has the ability to buy it, they take the morale high road and report it, rather than getting a killer deal on my beloved machine. I know what i would do in that situation. i dont blame anyone for wanting a good deal but the reality is, until people stop taking advantage of these deals that are too good to be true, literally, there will always be people there stealing from us in order to fulfill the "demand for good deals" that so many search for on craigslist/ebay/pawn shops. I appreciate your continued help and look forward to posting a pic of me and my machine for all of you

 

[candcantiques]

I used to be a pawn broker. The LAW is that EACH AND EVERY night the pawn shop MUST submit a listing of EVERYTHING purchased or pawned by mail to the local "pawn squad" at the local Sheriffs department. Each item has to be described by color, size, what it is and any and all numbers that may appear on the item weather they be factory applied or applied by an individual. The pawn shop MUST have 2 forms of identification from the person pawning or selling the item, one being a state issued id or drivers license that is current and valid. Once you report your item stolen the "pawn squad" will look through the paperwork from ALL of the pawn shops for approximately 14 days. IF you are lucky enough that they find your item (and you MUST have the serial number to prove it's yours) the Sheriff will remove the item from the pawn shop and keep it in their possesion until all legal matters are considered closed ( including prosecution of the theif) then you may retrieve your items at no cost to you. YOU NEVER HAVE TO BUY YOUR MERCHANDISE BACK FROM THE PAWN SHOP. If a police officer or pawn broker told anyone that he was a liar or just plain stupid. Seriously though if you don't know the serial number you have absolutely no PROOF that the detector was ever yours. I am no longer a pawn broker. Pawn brokers are legal thieves in my opinion.

 

[candcantiques]

Also, if the detector was purchased by a pawn shop they have to hold it in the back for 72 hours giving the "pawn squad" time to come and get it if it should have been reported stolen. If it was pawned it could take months for it to hit the floor depending on if the person pawning the detector pays the monthly interest fees on the pawn loan. In my experience thieves do not ever pawn anything. Thieves will not list it in the Penny Saver or on Craigslist. HOWEVER the person they sold it to might. Thieves are going to want to sell it quick to either the local dealer (drug), a pawn broker or someone else they see metal detecting. Maybe even flea market dealers. One more thing, IF AND ONLY IF you have your serial number and you find it in a pawn shop and have already reported it stolen, go into the pawn shop tell them its yours and it was stolen, if they won't give it to you and / or the police, grab it and walk out with it. Just leave. They cannot prosecute you for " stealing " merchandise that you legally own that you reported stolen. The judge would laugh it out of court. I did NOT work for a pawn shop (to my knowledge) that payed off the police but I knew of shops that did pay. As employees we were always told that if we had a bad feeling about something to turn people away weather we could prove it or not. Normally it's obvious to a trained pawn broker. The "seller / thief " is always looking around and in a hurry and willing to accept too little money. ANY pawnbroker would know a Minelab 1000 and it's resale value. A thief might want $100.00 or even settle for less. It would be obvious it was stolen. I have heard of 2 Excal's in my area (Daytona) if they look anything like what you are describing I will let you know. Best of luck.

Why did I quit. I couldn't keep paying $5.00 per pennyweight for 14kt gold (just an example). In my mind it was taking advantage of the people that were good people that only needed a little help.

 

[vfr800]

I used to be a pawn broker. The LAW is that EACH AND EVERY night the pawn shop MUST submit a listing of EVERYTHING purchased or pawned by mail to the local "pawn squad" at the local Sheriffs department. Each item has to be described by color, size, what it is and any and all numbers that may appear on the item weather they be factory applied or applied by an individual. The pawn shop MUST have 2 forms of identification from the person pawning or selling the item, one being a state issued id or drivers license that is current and valid. Once you report your item stolen the "pawn squad" will look through the paperwork from ALL of the pawn shops for approximately 14 days. IF you are lucky enough that they find your item (and you MUST have the serial number to prove it's yours) the Sheriff will remove the item from the pawn shop and keep it in their possession until all legal matters are considered closed ( including prosecution of the theif) then you may retrieve your items at no cost to you. YOU NEVER HAVE TO BUY YOUR MERCHANDISE BACK FROM THE PAWN SHOP. If a police officer or pawn broker told anyone that he was a liar or just plain stupid. Seriously though if you don't know the serial number you have absolutely no PROOF that the detector was ever yours. I am no longer a pawn broker. Pawn brokers are legal thieves in my opinion.

I have been following this post (First off sorry to here what happened to you) But i have gone to pawn shops to sell items and have never been asked for ID. I also had a friend of mine purchase a gun from a pawn shop and he was given a receipt but when he went to register the gun and more information was needed to pawn shop tried to deny they sold it even thought he had a receipt. I no longer deal or visit pawn shops. I hope you catch the person or persons who did this.........Good Luck

 

[mynah]

I'm sure you'll get a lot of support there. Sorry I can't help you any more as I'm in Hawaii.

Aloha, Ike

 

[candcantiques]

Any pawn shop that doesn't ask for ID should be turned in to the States Attorney. They are operating outside of the law. DON'T contact the local police. They probably already know about it.

 

[jimmy jam]

In California, you could almost always find your stolen stuff at the local flea markets.

 

[MHirschmann]

-- moved topic --

 

[diggingtn1]

There is a excal posted on ebay now in milsap TX. probably not the one but strikes me as odd that no pics posted with item. Sorry for your loss and good luck with recovery.