Buying item that was previously obtained from a police auction

[rodrilane2]

Hi,

I would like to know the following.

Seller X is selling some items that, as he told me, he obtained from a police auction (this means they were stolen goods or obtained from a drug-raid)

Which are the implicancies for me as a buyer of buying these items?

What if the seller does not tell the truth and are stolen?

Thanks in advance!

[extrememobility]

If you do not like to take chances then do not"

[fuzzface50]

Because it was at a police auction doesn't mean it was stolen, it could have been lost  or abandon property too that they recovered.  

I buy stuff from police auctions quite often from  gift cards, cell phones, broken down cars, etc.

[fuzzface50]

depending on the item, you might want to carry a copy of your invoice with the item if it will ease your mind if someone questions it.

I know I brought parking meters years ago and sold off quite a few of them but I still have plenty left and was going to scrap the rough  vandalized ones if price of scrap will ever go up and I am going to take my auction receipt with me to prove they are mine and not just stolen .  I cannot blame the yards though, they need to protect themselves too otherwise if they buy stolen goods and it gets recovered from them, they are out what they paid for it and I doesn't look good on their record. 

[pburn]

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@rodrilane2 wrote:

Hi,

I would like to know the following.

Seller X is selling some items that, as he told me, he obtained from a police auction (this means they were stolen goods or obtained from a drug-raid)

Which are the implicancies for me as a buyer of buying these items?

What if the seller does not tell the truth and are stolen?

Thanks in advance!

---

If the items have indeed been sourced from a police auction, there are no implications for you as a buyer. There are laws addressing the steps police departments must take before auctioning items that are in their custody for whatever reason.

If the seller does not tell the truth and the goods are indeed stolen, there are no legal repercussions for you unless it can be proven that you knew the goods were stolen; however, it is my understanding that in most jurisdictions, you could potentially have to return the goods to the rightful owner if the circumstances arise.

[lightlily_arts]

Police departments sell off things that are found in impounded vehicles or confiscated during their raids. The police have to check items that they believe are stolen.   Admittedly they don't work that hard at it.  I know they found one of my stolen computers during a raid  but they didn't return it to me either.   It was evidence so they said. There are lots of people who attend these Police auctions to purchase pennies on the dollar.  It's no different than the storage unit auctions.  You only need to keep your receipts.  If you are concerned about stolen items then don't buy.

[7606dennis]

There should be no issues for you to worry about.  

[impalajohnny]

Anything on ebay might be stolen. But the vast majority of items are not. What you need to worry most about coming back on you is titled property like automobiles. 

The police steal way more than the average citizen so anything they are selling is more likely to be stolen but they are experts at getting away with it so I would not worry.  They usually steal from people who are doing something wrong and will not complain.

Anything they steal that actually ends up in a police auction was stolen with the blessing of the law so no chance of getting in trouble there.

[7606dennis]

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@impalajohnny wrote:

Anything on ebay might be stolen. But the vast majority of items are not. What you need to worry most about coming back on you is titled property like automobiles. 

The police steal way more than the average citizen so anything they are selling is more likely to be stolen but they are experts at getting away with it so I would not worry.  They usually steal from people who are doing something wrong and will not complain.

Anything they steal that actually ends up in a police auction was stolen with the blessing of the law so no chance of getting in trouble there.

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Interesting view of law enforcement you have.

[fossil_diver]

Your post reminded me of the opening scene from Cool Hand Luke. 

[soh.maryl]

Our local PD has such sales periodically.  They are kind of a mish mash of things, but mostly bicycles.  Youngsters evidently have a habit of leaving bikes unsecured in parks or playgrounds.  And also a habit of not trying to find them or claim them.

Several of my grandchildren and their friends have gotten pretty good bikes this way.

There are also things stolen from people's yards like lawn furniture.  One of those large plastic doghouses.

A pretty new wheelbarrow.  There is a guy here in town who makes a hobby of buying the bikes that are not in great condition and fixing them up for children who don't have bikes.  I think the PD gives him a good deal on those bikes. 

My point is that, if you're uncomfortable with those purchases, then don't buy.

[fuzzface50]

years ago when the police auctions used to be held live on site  I kept seeing these same growing lights year after year show up. I mentioned something to the one officer I knew from the weekly sheriff's sales about these lights that keep coming back every year. He had to laugh about them. They got them in a drug bust and every time they sell them they get them back in another drug bust.  They watched who brought them and then watched them closer and sure enough they had another dealer. This went on for a few years and then a legit greenhouse brought them. but for a while there they had druggies ratting themselves out. 

Now around here they are held online.  I did buy a dead push mower last summer from a police auction a city over for the starting bid of $5.00. I only really needed the bag which was mint on it. I don't think they used the bag at all .

Yeah, I used to buy a lot at police auctions but haven't brought a whole lot lately from them. I prefer the dnr confiscated auctions and the bank/treasury unclaimed auctions.  Kind of nice you don't need to travel to each one separately anymore but you can follow them online now. I can get to more of them this way.   🙂

[impalajohnny]

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@soh.maryl wrote:

Our local PD has such sales periodically.  They are kind of a mish mash of things, but mostly bicycles.  Youngsters evidently have a habit of leaving bikes unsecured in parks or playgrounds.  And also a habit of not trying to find them or claim them.

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You don't really believe that do you? No kid just abandons his bike. But kids/people who steal bikes usually ride them to where ever they want to go and abandon them there. The park, the liquor store, etc. Sometimes they ditch them on the side of the road if they think the heat might be on.

If the police recover a bike they don't make it easy at all for the owner to find or claim it again.

[mudshark61369]

@impalajohnny, and anyone else.

  "If the police recover a bike they don't make it easy at all for the owner to find or claim it again".

It is hard for the police to find and return a recovered item if the only description is Blue Trek 10 speed mountain bike.  They may have several.  However, without proof of ownership, they can't just hand over one of 10 bikes to someone who shows up.

Just about every bike sold has a serial number. If a lost or stolen bike is recovered they record the serial #, and if a person contacts them with the serial number, they can check through there recovered/confiscated items on their computer.  

Recording the make model and or serial numbers of expensive items, so if something happens to them, helps not only Law enforcement, but helps with insurance claims as well.

[fuzzface50]

Yep, lots of bikes at police auctions. they are correct about that people steal them ride them to wherever and leave them.  Also correct people don't have enough proof to  recover them if stolen.  I have a bike I paid $1,000 for in my garage and even I don't have the serial number written down for it, I should though. 

When I used to work at Walmart. this bike showed up outside of the Lawn and garden center one summer. it sat outside for 6 months or longer. it was tagged by the police twice and would be considered abandon in x amount of days . of course that day came and went and just got retagged again.

then one day a fellow employee mentioned something to a supervisor about it in front of me and they said the store is aware it is there.  I asked the supervisor that if they are aware it was one of our new bikes that was ridden out of the store and just ditched by the doors.  Nope they never knew that and asked me why I never said anything sooner. none of my business and the subject never came up before.  they  had problems that one summer with kids riding bikes and skateboard into the store and back out thru the garden center and never realized that was one of our bikes.