New Pawnbrokers Act pushed

Luzerne County prosecutors and state officials agree a little-known law requiring pawn shops to record jewelry transactions is helpful to police in burglary investigations.

They also agree that a loophole in the Precious Metals Act that was enacted in 1984 needs to be expanded to include video game systems, video games and DVDs. One state representative said the Pawnbrokers License Act of 1937, which requires all transactions at pawn shops to be recorded, needs to be revisited by lawmakers.

“I think it would be a great help to law enforcement to have pawn shop dealers report the video equipment and video games,” District Attorney Jacqueline Musto Carroll said. “These systems and games are expensive; they cost an arm and a leg.”

“It doesn’t seem to be out of the question,” state Rep. Mike Carroll, D-Avoca, said about adding those items to the state mandate. “If the district attorney and detectives think such a law would help them combat the sale of stolen items, I would support such a measure.”

State Rep. John Yudichak, D-Nanticoke, drafted a bill in 2006 that required pawnbrokers to provide county district attorneys with copies of all transaction records on a timely basis. Yudichak has reintroduced the bill for the current legislative session.

“My legislation would amend this act to require that pawnbrokers submit these sales transaction records to the district attorney by close of the working day immediately after the business was transacted,” Yudichak said in an e-mail. “It should be noted that current law requires identical record transmittal by dealers in precious metals.

“By enacting this law, we give police another tool to track whether a stolen item has been pawned, thereby increasing the likelihood of returning the property to its owner and prosecuting responsible parties,” Yudichak added.

Under the 1937 act, pawnbrokers are required to maintain records of all transactions, Yudichak said.

These records include description of the item sold, the seller’s name, address and identification, such as a Social Security number or vehicle operator’s number.

But Yudichak conceded that it might be time to update the 1937 law to today’s standards.

Yudichak’s bill includes a provision allowing the district attorney to authorize delivery or mailing of transaction records to the police department of the city or municipality in which the business was transacted in lieu of delivery or mailing of the transaction records to the district attorney.

Dealers can be prosecuted

Pawn shops and jewelry dealers are required under the Precious Metals Act to send a copy of jewelry transactions to the district attorney’s office within one business day and are prohibited from selling the purchased items for five days. A violation could result in criminal charges, Luzerne County Detective Charles Balough said.

Balough and West Pittston officer Leonard Lombardo recently filed charges against Louis M. Mikolaichik, owner of Coins and Treasures, Exeter, for allegedly failing to record the transaction of a gold necklace that was stolen during a home burglary in May, according to arrest records.

Mikolaichik, 36, of Tunkhannock, purchased the necklace from Dustin Andrew Barrett on May 31, and resold the piece later that day, arrest records say.

Lombardo charged Barrett, 19, of Exeter, with stealing the necklace and several bracelets from a Pacific Avenue home. Barrett was employed by a construction company that was replacing windows at the home when the jewelry, according to arrest records, was stolen.

The Precious Metals Act also helped Wilkes-Barre police recover jewelry stolen during a home burglary on West Academy Street in May. Police said in arrest records that Main Street Trading Post, South Main Street, followed the law and obtained information from David Jeremy Bruce, who, according to arrest records, sold the stolen jewelry to the business.

Bruce, 28, of Hanover, Lancaster County, is facing a single count of receiving stolen property in county court, according to court records.

Balough said if he had his way, pawn shops would be required to record every item, including video game systems, which they purchase from customers.

“Some of those game systems and even the games are expensive,” Balough said. “Obviously, it would be more work for us, but police would recover more stolen property at the same time.”

State police Bureau of Criminal Investigations, Organized Crime Task Force, Wilkes-Barre, recently raided The Video Game Store on South Main Street, Wilkes-Barre, in connection to multiple thefts of video games and DVDs from department stores.

No charges have been filed, but a search warrant affidavit indicates police believe an employee of the store was knowingly buying stolen video games and DVDs.

Police seized hundreds of video games and DVDs from the store, according to the inventory receipt that was submitted with the search warrant.

“There’s no legislation right now that would require pawn shops to record transactions of video game systems and games,” said Bob Caton, spokesman for state Rep. Todd Eachus, D-Butler Township. “But if legislation would be proposed, this is something that Todd Eachus would be in favor of.”

“I don’t have a problem with it,” said Trading Post owner Walt MacCorkla, about submitting transactions of video game systems, video games and DVDs to the district attorney’s office.

But, MacCorkla said the difficulty lies with how to determine if a video game, video games and DVDs are stolen or being sold for legitimate purposes.

“When it comes to games, there are so many of the same games,” MacCorkla said. “I had a situation where I had five copies of the same game. It’s a little bit difficult to track.”

’Net could aid authorities

Meanwhile, Musto Carroll said her office is in the transition of changing the process of how pawn shops report jewelry transactions.

Currently, pawn shops must complete a form in writing and photo copy the customer’s identification. They then drop it off or mail the forms to the district attorney’s office.

When police are investigating a home burglary and find out jewelry is stolen from the residence, they need to search thousands of forms and match the description of the jewelry to what was reported by the pawn shop.

In the next month or two, Musto Carroll said pawn shops will be able to use the Internet to submit jewelry transactions. The new system will help save time in investigations, Balough said.

“In the near future, we’re going online with our data base,” Balough said. “We get nearly 1,000 forms every week taking up 65 man-hours handling the paper work.

“We’re hoping the online system will help us. Any law enforcement agency can log on and review the items that are posted,” Balough said.

MacCorkla believes the online system will help, but it will be a second task for him to perform. He believes he would still need to complete the paper forms because they require the customer’s signature.

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Prosecutors, legislators: Dealers reporting video games/equipment transactions would aid DAs, cops.

Dealers can be prosecuted

’Net could aid authorities

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