Stolen Goods Recovered, Teen Arrested

Stolen Goods Recovered, Teen Arrested

By Cheryl Lasseter
04/12/07

Jackson police first stopped Thursday at 810 Arbor Vista Boulevard, to execute a search warrant for stolen goods. No one was home, so they gained entry and find a gold mine of hot merchandise. "A lot of stereo equipment, speakers, extension cords, sanders, tools," said Detective Terrence Ware. A treadmill was also recovered, and all of the items were transferred into the back of a pickup truck to be taken downtown for evidence.

Some of the merchandise was stolen from a few houses down, and some of it came from other houses. Police hope to identify the owners of the merchandise soon.

Their next stop: USA Pawn on Highway 80, not even a mile from the house. There, police picked up one more stolen item linked to their suspect, 18-year-old Darien Hampton: an air compressor.

Before searching the home Thursday, detectives had already linked other stolen pawned merchandise to Hampton. They did it through "leadsonline", a website that allows police officers to track stolen goods through serial numbers. Pawn shops are required to provide police with a list of every item they take in, and those lists can be used in conjunction with leadsonline. "If something were pawned in California, we would be able to trace it," said JPD Sergeant Jeffery Scott.

Scott says most pawn shops have been a great help. In this case, USA Pawn helped to verify that Hampton is a pawn shop regular. He was arrested Thursday afternoon after he entered the pawn shop, unaware police had been there just hours before. He has a prior arrest for receiving stolen goods, and he's charged with the same crime this time.

Hampton will also be questioned in connection to another house burglary that occurred Thursday morning at 825 Arbor Vista, and several other burglaries in the neighborhood. "I'm sure everyone knows or suspects that he has been committing burglaries within this neighborhood," Detective Ware said.

Jackson Police say it's important for people to keep track of the serial numbers of items they own, so they can be more easily tracked if they're stolen.