DENNIS ODA / DODA@STARBULLETIN.COM An HPD officer looked over some of the allegedly stolen items seized yesterday afternoon from Ziggy's Pawn Gold & Diamond Buyers at 746 Kapahulu Ave.

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Suspected stolen goods
seized at 2 pawnshops

Police hope to post pictures
of any lifted merchandise
on the Internet for recovery

Police searched and seized items from two pawnshops yesterday that were allegedly selling stolen merchandise.

The first raid took place at Ziggy's Pawn Gold & Diamond Buyers at 746 Kapahulu Ave. at about 2:45 p.m. Later in the afternoon, police raided Local Pawn in Chinatown at 1174 Smith St.

Police confiscated the entire contents of both stores, including jewelry, electronics, musical instruments and other high-ticket items. In about a week, police hope to post photos of stolen items on their Web site (www.honolulupd. org) so residents can recover property.

At Ziggy's, a worker in his 40s was arrested on suspicion of second-degree theft. Sgt. Guy Perreira, of the District 7 Crime Reduction Unit, said the shop's owner, a woman in her 40s, is expected to be arrested soon.

Police also arrested a worker for theft at Local Pawn.

The raids are the result of separate month-long investigations and were coordinated for the same day so pawnshop owners dealing in stolen merchandise wouldn't be tipped off and cover their tracks, police said.

Police learned of the shops' alleged dealings in stolen goods from several sources, including by those arrested on theft charges, Perreira said.

Lt. Norman Kau, of District 1's Crime Reduction Unit, said that in the case of the Smith Street raid, the owner was allegedly told property was stolen but still accepted it.

Pawnshops, by law, must keep track of what they buy by having customers fill out a pawn ticket, which includes a seller's personal information and details about the items sold. The ticket also includes a thumbprint of the person who sold the items.

Police have stepped up their surveillance of pawnshops in recent months.

In December, the owner of A-1 Pawn Shop on King Street was charged with buying stolen items from undercover police officers and not filling out pawn tickets for them.

Police said his pawnshop served as a fence for a massive burglary ring, whose members were alleged to have stolen hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of property.

"If you believe it's stolen, you shouldn't be dealing in it in the first place," Kau said, adding that yesterday's pawnshop raids will "hopefully ... make an impact on other pawn shops."