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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Tuesday, June 3, 2008

IS IT YOURS?
HPD Web site displays property seized in pawn shop raid

Photo gallery: Pawn shop raid

By Suzanne Roig
Advertiser Staff Writer

Hawaii news photo - The Honolulu Advertiser

Police yesterday displayed some of the hundreds of items, ranging from a statue to jewelry and electronics recovered in a 2007 raid on a pawn shop. Many of the items are believed to have been stolen.

JOAQUIN SIOPACK | The Honolulu Advertiser

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TO VIEW ITEMS

Honolulu police say many items seized in a raid on a Waikiki pawn shop in August are believed to be stolen property. To view the items, go to www.honolulupd.org/property. The Web site has instructions on how to claim items you believe are yours.

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Items from diamond rings to portable DVD players to paintings are awaiting their rightful owners on a police Web site displaying stolen property for the public to view and hopefully claim.

It's part of the Honolulu Police Department's attempt to return many of the 1,700-plus items rounded up during a raid of the Holo Holo Pawn Shop in Waikiki last year.

If you can prove an item belongs to you — and if you filed a theft report before Aug. 3, 2007 — police will return the item to you.

Police raided the shop at 1705 Kalakaua Ave. last August after a three-month undercover operation looking into whether the business was knowingly accepting stolen goods and profiting from their sale. Police arrested the owner and charges are pending, said Jim Fulton, spokesman for the Honolulu prosecutor's office.

Police did not have an estimate on the value of the items taken in the raid.

"This is just the tip of the iceberg," police Maj. Frank Fujii said yesterday. "We're trying to make a big effort to return the items to the owners."

The shop remains closed today, Honolulu Police Detective Clem Enoka said yesterday at a press conference.

Some of the items are legitimate pawn items, Enoka said. But others may be stolen property, he said. Items include acoustic guitars, a bronze statue and cameras.

"We need help contacting people and try to help the victims out there," Enoka said. "This was a larger than normal amount of recovery and a lot more unusual items."

This is the third time Honolulu police have displayed items on a Web site to be claimed. The previous time, about 12 percent of the items were claimed. That's much more effective than the 5 percent claim rate when police would put recovered items on view at the station and have citizens come in to make a claim.

Reach Suzanne Roig at sroig@honoluluadvertiser.com.