CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Police raided a West Side pawnshop Friday after they allegedly found several gold jewelry pieces reportedly stolen from homes around Charleston.
Detectives served a search warrant at Charleston Cash 4 Gold & Loan at 1305 W. Washington St.
Charleston Police Sgt. Bobby Eggleton said one storeowner, Kyle R. Thompson, 27, of Charleston, was charged with 32 counts of failure to report stolen items.
A city ordinance requires pawnshop owners to record serial numbers and makes and models of items they buy and sell.
Eggleton said detectives visited the business last year and met with the owners, Thompson and Gary W. Taylor, 26, of Charleston.
Detectives knew then that stolen items were being sold there, he said. The men were told to run a legitimate gold exchange business or face an arrest.
"That was a year ago, and here we are today," Eggleton said.
CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Police raided a West Side pawnshop Friday after they allegedly found several gold jewelry pieces reportedly stolen from homes around Charleston.
Detectives served a search warrant at Charleston Cash 4 Gold & Loan at 1305 W. Washington St.
Charleston Police Sgt. Bobby Eggleton said one storeowner, Kyle R. Thompson, 27, of Charleston, was charged with 32 counts of failure to report stolen items.
A city ordinance requires pawnshop owners to record serial numbers and makes and models of items they buy and sell.
Eggleton said detectives visited the business last year and met with the owners, Thompson and Gary W. Taylor, 26, of Charleston.
Detectives knew then that stolen items were being sold there, he said. The men were told to run a legitimate gold exchange business or face an arrest.
"That was a year ago, and here we are today," Eggleton said.
Thompson was arrested at the store Friday as police began seizing the allegedly stolen jewelry. Eggleton said Taylor was not charged because detectives couldn't find evidence linking him to the jewelry.
Taylor is listed as the store's owner, according to a business license filed with the secretary of state's office. Records show Taylor also owns Golden Wireless at 1429 W. Washington St.
Thompson was to be arraigned Friday evening in Kanawha County Magistrate Court.
This is not his first arrest. Police were called to the store in 2011 after a man claimed Thompson and Taylor locked him inside at gunpoint.
On July 13, 2011, Dominique Dogan told police the men threatened to shoot him if he tried to leave, according to a criminal complaint filed in Kanawha County Magistrate Court.
Thompson and Taylor each were charged with wanton endangerment with a firearm, but the outcome of those charges is unclear.
Reach Travis Crum at travis.c...@wvgazette.com or 304-348-5163.
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