GPD raids 2 pawn shops in city Tuesday
By Nick Hiltunen
Published in News on December 17, 2008 1:46 PM
Federal agents and the Goldsboro Police Department raided two city pawn shops Tuesday and seized items as they investigate whether the shops have knowingly sold stolen goods.
No charges have been filed, but police Chief Tim Bell said he is confident that charges will be filed when the investigation is complete.
The two pawn shops raided Tuesday afternoon were Quality Jewelry and Pawn on Ash Street near Seymour Johnson Air Force Base and Gold City Pawn, also on Ash Street, just blocks away from the Wayne County Court-house and the police department.
"Charges are pending," Bell said. "There are going to be misdemeanor and felony charges filed."
An authority familiar with the case said that federal agents were involved because some sales of allegedly stolen goods crossed state lines because of Internet sales.
Goldsboro investigator Dwayne Dean, the lead officer in the case, said he could release only limited details about the investigation.
"The only thing we did today (Tuesday) was serve two search warrants, and we actually seized some property," Dean said. "Maybe the first of next week there are going to be some charges filed. It's ongoing."
The police chief said the charges will probably be related to receiving stolen property and pawn shop-related violations.
"The investigation is going to be related to pawn broker violations and RCP (receiving stolen property)," Bell said. "(The charges are related to) how you handle property once it comes in and the transactions themselves."