Originally Posted by daddymack if you reported it stolen to the police, all you should have had to do was notify the police. The pawn shop is liable for purchasing stolen property...under California law, they have a legal obligation to make sure they are not abetting the thief by receiving stolen property.
That appears to be putting a fair bit of faith in both the pawn shop owners and the police. Does that California law require the pawn shop owners to contact the police to run it through stolen gear databases? I would imagine many people who would steal thousands of dollars worth of gear would be inclined to drive a good distance to unload it. Do those databases, if used, interlink? The only major theft I knew of happened to a DJ. The biggest hit wasn't the gear, it was the records. Better than a decade of collections, BPM marking and the lot. He ended up tracking it down not though any legislation or the police. He did his own police work for well over a month and tracked it down. Maybe an element of luck but he was committed, with good reason. What happens if you buy a guitar from a pawn shop, take it to a gig and some dude comes up to you telling you it's his guitar. You bought the guitar cash. The pawn shop owner is responsible right? But is there any resulting fines for the shop owner for selling stolen gear? Or in California, for not checking it? Can you just go back to the shop with the receipt in hand and demand the money? Does the other person need to be there with a police report? What happens if the person did not fill out a police report?