Category: Campus Crime, Success Stories

PlayStation pawned 20 miles away is returned to its rightful owner within 10 days of the theft

“In August, members of the Tulane University Police Department documented a simple burglary that occurred on campus where a Sony PlayStation that had been recently purchased, was stolen during the burglary. The item was entered into the LeadsOnline and three days later, I was notified that the item had been sold at a business in a neighboring city, approximately 20 miles away. With the information obtained from the business I was quickly able to identify the suspect and based off of additional evidence secured from the burglary scene, an arrest warrant was issued for the suspect. Within 10 days of the reported burglary I was able to return the stolen PlayStation back to the owner. Thanks LeadsOnline!”

Lt. Dennis Serena
Tulane University Police Department
Louisiana

Category: Campus Crime, Success Stories

Multiple cities, one great service

“I have been pleased with the LeadsOnline service. I was recently working on a case involving a person who had pawned items in multiple cities. Using LeadsOnline, I was able to trace down items pawned in Dallas, Waxahachie, Lancaster, Irving and Ft. Worth without leaving my desk.

This used to take days to follow-up. I have been able to recover several items and with the cooperation of many pawn shop owners we will be bringing the suspect to justice.”

Det. Daniel Claxton
Dallas ISD Police Department
Texas

Category: Campus Crime, Success Stories

Suspect runs, but can’t hide thanks to LeadsOnline

“LeadsOnline assists me in finding suspects that have left the area and are out on bond. I located a defendant on the other end of the state. He had stolen several musical instruments from the University and students. I recovered several of the items in Huntsville and Birmingham. He was selling stolen property to music stores. The defendant was out on bond for robbery from the Huntsville area when he committed the thefts on campus. LeadsOnline shows him pawning stolen jewelry in the Montgomery area. He is a suspect in a robbery in Montgomery.”

Sgt. Shawn Giddy
Jacksonville State University Police Department
Alabama

Category: Campus Crime, Success Stories

Musical instruments stolen from University music building; Recovered using LeadsOnline

“The University of Texas Police Department was able to recover approximately $10,000 worth of musical instruments that were taken in a burglary from the music building two weeks earlier. As a result of LeadsOnline, we were able to recover the musical instruments in another city and charge the suspect in this case with burglary. I have also cleared another case in which the same suspect was involved as a result information provided to me through LeadsOnline. Thank you, LeadsOnline, for providing me with one of the best systems for solving property crimes.”

Sgt. Donna Maga
Criminal Investigation
University of Texas Police Department
Texas

Category: Campus Crime, Success Stories

$30,000 in stolen musical instruments recovered via LeadsOnline

“During our 30 day trial, over $30,000 (yes, thirty thousand dollars) of stolen musical instruments have been recovered in Texas and Alabama by using LeadsOnline. Not only were we able to recover the instruments – the suspect was linked to other crimes committed in other states. Before LeadsOnline, we would have to request pawnshop information from numerous different state agencies, which made it too time-consuming for our available resources. (That’s just checking Oklahoma pawnshops.) With LeadsOnline, we can check pawnshops nationwide in the time it once took to check the 6 pawnshops in Oklahoma City. The minimal cost required for LeadsOnline has more than paid for itself already.”

Det. Scott Gibbons
Oklahoma University Police Department
Oklahoma

Category: Campus Crime, Success Stories

Small law enforcement agency budget eased by using LeadsOnline

“I work for The University of Texas System Police at one of the smaller components. As such we have very limited resources. Beginning in the fall semester, we started experiencing a string of thefts with no suspects or leads. I heard about your service from another agency. The idea seemed better than thumbing through pawn tickets. I signed up for your 30-day free trial. We recently had four musical instruments stolen. I put in the serial number for the first instrument; no success. I put in the serial number for the second instrument; I found a match (I checked three times because I couldn’t believe it). Then I found another match. I even found, through the keyword search, the first instrument. (The Music Department had given me an incomplete serial number.) In total, I found 3 out of the 4 instruments for a recovery of $3,000. This one recovery will pay for 3 years service with money left over. Once I had the suspect’s name, I found he had pawned 24 instruments in Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi and all over Texas. Through regular channels, I found two outstanding felony warrants from Nebraska and South Carolina. LeadsOnline will surely help recover tens if not hundreds of thousands of dollars. Hopefully it will also enhance the penalties for this professional thief. Let me say thanks. If not for the free trial, I would be chasing my tail forever.”

Officer Mark Pierce
University of Texas System Police
Texas

Category: Campus Crime, Success Stories

LeadsOnline brings law enforcement out of stone age

“On our second day using LeadsOnline, we discovered an internal theft problem that had been ongoing for over two years. I have been a police officer, industrial security specialist, and licensed private investigator for nearly twenty years. I have solved numerous burglaries, thefts, and scams by utilizing information I could gain from pawn shops and second hand stores. I had to do it during the stone-age when you had to go around to the different agencies and go through stacks and stacks of IBM computer paper printouts searching line by line. This took hours, if not days at times. LeadsOnline is one of the finest tools for law-enforcement that I have had the privilege to use lately. Again, I want to thank you for introducing it to our small university police department.”

Sgt. Steve Fomby
Centenary College Police Department
Louisiana

Category: Campus Crime, Success Stories

Rice University Police recover $30,000 violin stolen from campus

“Jiyeon Min’s $30,000 violin, along with a pair of $5,000 bows, went missing before her final scheduled performance as a student at the Shepherd School of Music Presidential Concert at Stude Hall. Sgt. Gary Spears picked up the case and knew where to look first. The first thing we did was a LeadsOnline search. I gave it a whirl and searched for all violins with that brand name pawned in Texas and Louisiana over the weekend. There was only one, and it was at a business just down the street. They thought it was worth about $5,000 and they paid him $200 for it. The suspect is known to police for previous thefts, and a felony warrant was issued for his arrest. Spears recovered the violin May 16, and Min, who had gone home to Atlanta, hopped a plane back to Houston that day. She was delighted enough to treat RUPD to coffee and cake as a thank you. This, for me, is the highest-priced item I’ve recovered from a business. You’re getting into the price of cars with a $30,000 violin. It was a big case for us.”

Sgt. Gary Spears
Rice University Police Department
Texas

Category: Campus Crime, Success Stories

University police department finds stolen musical instruments and electronics

“I got a one month free trial of LeadsOnline and ran all the serial numbers of stolen items over the past year. I found that a stolen digital camera had been sold. After the arrest of the person who sold the camera, I traced it back to a custodian at the University who had been working in the area of the theft. I then started checking people that I had arrested in the past, including students, staff and people from off campus. As a result I found that a music student had pawned three tubas at different pawn shops over a six month period. When I checked with the Music Department, they discovered they were missing the three tubas. The tubas were valued at $3000.00 each. The tubas were recovered and the student confessed. As a result of the recovery of the camera and $9000 of University property, I was able to get LeadsOnline in our budget.
Thank you for the free one month trial!”

Det. Tony Griemel
University of Missouri at St. Louis Police Department
Missouri

Category: Campus Crime, Success Stories

University police find stolen property taken out of state

“Northwestern University police were able to locate six laptop computers were stolen by a former employee by using LeadsOnline. The computers were stolen here in Illinois, and subsequently located in three separate pawn shops in northwest Indiana. The location of these laptops ties in a major part of the investigation to where we could upgrade the charges to a higher class of felony.”

Sgt. Robert Wiley
Northwestern University Police Department
Illinois

Category: Campus Crime, Success Stories

University employee arrested for embezzlement of school property

“While searching local stores for a stolen iPad in July, I found that a subject had pawned eight iPads within a few weeks. The subject was found to be an employee of the University and had access to the iPads. The serial numbers were checked through the University’s records and found to belong to the University. The property was recovered, an arrest was made, and the subject pled guilty to embezzlement.”

Officer Shana Thompson
Eastern Michigan University Police Department
Michigan

Category: Campus Crime, Success Stories

College student’s stolen laptop recovered; Spring Hill Police get an A+

“In April, I was advised of a missing laptop from a student on campus. The student was able to provide the make, model, and serial number of the missing computer. After filing a report from the student and talking with all the suspects that could have possibly taken the computer. I did a check of the computer at LeadsOnline which came up negative. I then saved the computer information for later activity on the item at local pawn shops. A month later I received an email advising me that the item had been sold at a local pawn shop. The information was used to obtain a confession and guilty verdict on the suspect. Thanks!”

Lieutenant David McLeod
Spring Hill Police Department
Alabama

Category: Campus Crime, Success Stories

Multiple suspects charged with felony after $26,000 worth of iPads were stolen

“I wish to express my gratitude to LeadsOnline for all the help given to me in my investigation regarding a Burglary. Taken in this burglary were 63 iPads belonging to the San Antonio Independent School District value at approximately $26,000.00. We entered the iPads by serial number into the Texas Crime Information Center as stolen. We were at a stand-still regarding possible leads to even submit fingerprints to DPS (AFIS) since at the particular point of the investigation, I did not know if the suspected burglars would be juveniles, and their fingerprints unavailable with AFIS. I received notice from “LeadsOnline” that they showed several of the iPads taken from the SAISD in the ecoATM’s, they informed me that they did have several of the iPads on hold and would be sending them to me. LeadsOnline provided THREE suspects who sold these items showing the item, serial number, date and time of transaction, complete description to include a driver’s license and actual photograph of the exchange; all of which is imperative to a criminal prosecution. Based upon this lead, I drove to the residence of one of the suspects and confronted him regarding the iPads. During that contact, I found yet another suspect present who resembled a suspect we were looking for in two other burglaries and a theft. Upon returning to the office, I ran that new suspect on LeadsOnline and found a stolen battery charger taken from the auto repair class at St. Philip’s College and sold at a local business within an hour of the theft depicting the name and identification of the person selling the item. The battery charger was recovered and returned to the owner and a criminal case filed against the suspect. Due to the large volume of iPads taken in the burglary, and based upon LeadsOnline revealing all persons who were involved in the sale of the stolen iPads, I am able to obtain enough evidence to file an “Organized Crime” case, which enhances the charges from a 3rd degree felony, to a 2nd degree felony.”

Sgt. Alberto Marin
Alamo College Police Department
Texas