News and Success Stories

“We checked LeadsOnline for a known subject as a person of interest on a burglary of habitation and theft case. The subject broke into a residence by breaking a window to gain entry. Unfortunately for him, the inside double glass window did not break and fell to the ground. The suspect entered and stepped all over the window with his tennis shoes and took a several items of high value. When investigators approached the male subject and asked for consent to search his residence, the male subject agreed knowing that he did not have any of the stolen items at the house. Investigators knew that already and were looking for his shoes. The shoes were located inside the bedroom with the same exact shoe print as the ones left on the window. Investigators advised him to sit tight and wait for the arrest warrant to come out. Further investigation revealed that he had sold most of the items at a local business. Thanks, LeadsOnline for the help.”

Sgt. David Liendo
Webb County Sheriff’s Office
Texas

“I found two guitars that were stolen using the LeadsOnline system. I was able to track the suspect down and get confessions to clear 14 other burglaries. Thanks!”

Sgt. Fred Cochran
Blount County Sheriff’s Office
Alabama

“Using LeadsOnline, I located a $1,875 stolen bicycle at a business. The investigation was conducted, and a suspect was identified. The suspect denied stealing the bicycle, and the District Attorney declined prosecution due to lack of evidence. The bicycle will be returned to the rightful owner.”

Ofc. Brent Dawson
San Francisco Police Department
California

“I located an NCIC hit for a Canon digital camera valued at over $1,000. The victim is a resident from Texas who was visiting San Francisco. His rental vehicle was broken into and numerous items of camera equipment were stolen. The victim completed an online police report and provided serial numbers for some of the stolen equipment. Once the match was found, a hold was placed on the stolen camera. The business was located in Lakeland, Florida! Following confirmation of ownership, the business agreed to release the property to the victim. Unfortunately, we were never able to contact the person who sold the stolen property or establish any other suspect information.”

Ofc. Brent Dawson
San Francisco Police Department
California

“I located a possible NCIC hit for a stolen Apple iPhone. The phone was sold at a Burbank, California ecoATM machine that flagged the serial number. The victim completed an online police report stating she was the victim of a pick-pocket while hanging out at a night club. EcoATM staff where advised, and the iPhone was recovered without incident. Once confirmation of ownership was made, the iPhone was returned to the victim.”

Ofc. Brent Dawson
San Francisco Police Department
California

“A California businessman was visiting a store in San Francisco when he negligently left his iPad on a display case. The iPad was stolen, and the victim filed a police report, providing the serial number of the item. During a search of LeadsOnline, I got an NCIC hit from a transaction out of Las Vegas. It was no coincidence that the person who sold the stolen iPad was originally a San Francisco resident with a checkered criminal past. With the assistance of a Detective from the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, the iPad was recovered. Nearly 18 months later, the victim was indeed surprised and happy to have his property returned. In the big scheme of things, this is a very minor success; however, it’s nice to have a small win once in a while.”

Ofc. Brent Dawson
San Francisco Police Department
California

“I stumbled across a subject with extensive transactions in multiple jurisdictions while searching for items stolen in a vehicle prowl. I followed this person as a POI, and he later sold a rototiller hours after stealing it from the front yard of a complainant in my county. He sold it at a shop in my jurisdiction, and was referred for charges.”

Ofc. Austin Mccombs
Sedro-Woolley Police Department
Washington

“Using LeadsOnline, I was able to find, identify, and prosecute a shoplifter who stole an iPhone 6 from a local mobile phone repair shop. The individual used an ecoATM and using the photos provided by LeadsOnline I was able to make the positive identification.”

Ofc. Logan Kistler
Spartanburg Police Department
South Carolina

“I use LeadsOnline as one of my tools in conducting follow-up burglary investigations. While investigating a burglary, I located a piece of property at a business in West Memphis, Arkansas, which a local victim reported stolen from my jurisdiction, in St. Louis, Missouri. Armed with the transaction information, I was able to quickly contact the business and place a hold on the item. I then called the West Memphis Police Department and advised them of the situation. I was able to give a representative of the West Memphis Police Department a suspect’s name and pedigree for the crime of receiving stolen property (our local charge for such an offense) within their jurisdiction. I also advised that the subject has multiple transaction records in Arkansas and Tennessee. I called the victim, advised him of my findings, and gave him contact information for the West Memphis Police Department. Since the item is located out of my jurisdiction, the West Memphis Police Department will conduct further follow-up with the help of the burglary victim. It was all thanks to LeadsOnline that I was able to help the victim locate his missing property, and lead another Police Department toward a suspect that has slipped out of my reach. With LeadsOnline, there is nowhere to hide.”

Ofc. Ervin Lockhart
St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department
Missouri

“I recently made an arrest with 21 warrants and pending potentially 22 more charges as a result of stolen property located on LeadsOnline. I was able to recover some of the items and to confirm the identity of the suspect thanks to this resource.”

Ofc. Lanis Geluso
Virginia Beach Police Department
Virginia

“Through LeadsOnline, I was able to locate stolen items and recover most of them. I charged the suspect with grand larceny and obtaining money under false pretenses.”

Ofc. Lanis Geluso
Virginia Beach Police Department
Virginia

“While trying to clear up some old theft cases, I checked numerous serial numbers through LeadsOnline. In doing so, I located a laptop that was stolen from a vehicle almost a year ago. Not only was I able to locate it, I was able to get it back to the owner and have applied for warrants against the subject who sold it.”

Ofc. Sean Rosner
Wentzville Police Department
Missouri

“I had a suspect steal his mother’s weddings rings along with other pieces of her jewelry. I checked LeadsOnline and sure enough, he had sold them at a local business. I went to the business and retrieved the items back, which were given back to his mother. He was charged with theft and receiving stolen property. Thank you, LeadsOnline!”

Ofc. Tiffany Davidson
West Carrollton Police Department
Ohio

“I recently investigated a burglary of a residence. I used Leads to run the suspect name and I found all the stolen items in multiple pawn shops. As a result I was able to solve a second burglary with the same suspect as a result of Leads.”

Ofc. Ronald Perkins
Williamstown Police Department
Kentucky

“My case involved a subject in relation to stolen property from vehicles. After running her name, we found she appeared to be committing the thefts in Fairbanks and going to Anchorage to sell the property. Through my cases and others with the Alaska State Troopers we were able to track her down and get her arrested on nearly $30,000 in arrest warrants relating to these thefts. She is currently incarcerated and expected to be there for quite some time. I would have taken an incredible amount of leg work to locate the different locations of the transactions which I suspect I would have missed since they were not routine to us.”

Ofc. Doug Welborn
Fairbanks Police Department
Alaska

“My case involved a special needs individual who had electronics stolen from his home. After checking LeadsOnline I found both items had been sold at a local store in Fairbanks. The shop owner was understanding and released the items to me so the owner could recover them. Through LeadsOnline I was able to print not only a copy of the transactions but the signature of the suspect. I was able to confirm the signature matched that of the suspect through our local DMV and a theft case is currently at our District Attorney’s Office for prosecution.”

Ofc. Doug Welborn
Fairbanks Police Department
Alaska

“Three suspects were identified as committing home invasions in the city of Rochester Hills. Through LeadsOnline, property was recovered that is believed to be stolen from multiple jurisdictions.”

Patrol Inv. Keith Weir
Rochester Hills Police Department
Michigan

“While investigating a burglary complaint, names of the suspects and the items taken were given. Doing a LeadsOnline search revealed the suspect and the items at our local pawn shop. There were even a couple items the victim didn’t yet know were stolen. Contact was made with the pawn shop to gather the items. It was very valuable using the automated confiscation order through LeadsOnline so that the business had an official and informative paper trail for both our records. Upon arriving, my suspects were there pawning something unrelated. Dumb cop luck! Got the items, videos, confessions, and guilty pleas. Thanks to LeadsOnline, I was saved time and effort in several different areas. Thanks again.”

Ptlm. Mark Burgoon
Celina Police Department
Ohio

“An ex-employee was seen on the property snooping around after business hours. After running a name search of the employee, I found that they had pawned a weed eater. The victim did not even know they were missing said weed eater. After confirming that they had one missing, I was able to link the suspect with the larceny of the weed eater and the obtaining property by false pretense.”

Ptlm. Darren Yang
Conover Police Department
North Carolina

“Our city and county had been experiencing a rash of daytime residential burglaries. One of the victims interrupted the pair of bad guys while they were breaking into his home. Based on his description, we were able to develop a suspect that the victim positively identified. A week after the incident, I found one of my bad guys pawning jewelry in Jefferson Parrish, Louisiana. Taking the description of the items provided by LeadsOnline, I was able to locate an entirely different incident with a similar piece of jewelry listed as stolen. I then contacted the Jefferson Parrish Sheriff’s Office, who was able to locate, hold and photograph the items. Twenty minutes after getting those photos, my victim, and one of her co-workers, positively identified two of the three items sold in Louisiana. Thanks to LeadsOnline and the Jefferson Parrish Sheriff’s Office, I’m able to get a good charge on a bad guy, and most importantly, get property back where it belongs.”

Ptlm. Joseph Lyon
Fort Wayne Police Department
Indiana

“During a recent delayed burglary investigation with no suspect information, I located a missing item using LeadsOnline. The business was contacted, and they agreed to hold the item. The LeadsOnline search provided me with a suspect name. The victim knew the suspect, and I would never have been able to locate the missing item (which had sentimental value) or identify a suspect without LeadsOnline. LeadsOnline is a great investigative tool and will be part of every investigation I conduct. Thanks.”

Police Service Aid Mark Nelson
St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office
Florida

“Once again, LeadsOnline came through and assisted in locating another stolen piece of property! I was searching through my NCIC Hits and came across a potential match to a stolen iPod that was taken from a high school student over a year ago. The suspect, thinking he was in the clear, sold it to an unmanned kiosk located at a mall within close proximity to our city. With the help of LeadsOnline, I recovered the iPod and return it to the rightful owner. The owner was overwhelmed with delight. Thanks LeadsOnline!”

Public Safety Ofc. Stacy Orchulli
El Cajon Police Department
California

“I was recently assigned to a patrol-based burglary investigator position, and LeadsOnline has been a very valuable tool. Along with the case involving firearms that were recovered, we have also recovered a very high end (collector’s edition) filet knife (only in Alaska would a filet knife be a collector’s item), and a Nikon DSLR camera that was stolen from a local business. The camera was found after I saved the search to run continually. I was thrilled to find that I didn’t have to run a new search for the same item every day!”

Ofc. Steve Warnaca
Juneau Police Department
Alaska

“We had a burglary at one of our apartment complex storage areas. Within 24 hours, the suspect pawned most of the stolen tools. We were able to track and identify them through Leads Online. The victims were able to retrieve their lost items and the tenant who did this will be charged with the crime. In addition, since the suspect lived at the same apartment complex, he will now be evicted.”

Ofc. Jason Jones
Kent Police Department
Washington

“With information from LeadsOnline I was able to locate and return seven rings stolen from a 91-year-old victim. The victim was helping a young lady who was down on her luck and pregnant. The female took advantage of the victim, and stole between nine and 12 rings from her, pawning or selling each one. LeadsOnline allowed me to locate one specific ring by description, which led to locating several others pawned by my suspect. The victim was able to identify the rings, including her original wedding bands from 1942 that were given to her by her husband just before he was shipped out to World War II. The suspect confessed and is currently facing a charge of felony theft.”

Ofc. Troy Hintz
Kokomo Police Department
Indiana

“I took a report on a stolen PS3 and it accessories from a residence. The owner was able to provide me with the serial number. I came back to the office and got onto LeadsOnline. After searching the serial number and a few names I was unable to locate them. I then placed them on the watch list and received an email a short time later on a hit. The hit lead me to the suspects and subsequent arrests of parties involved.”

Ofc. Chris Grimes
London Police Department
Ohio

“Last month, a female came into our police department and filled out a report for a stolen Nintendo DS. The female had the serial number, however, the serial number is a sticker attached to the DS. She told me that she had searched her house for a week and could not locate the DS. She told me she did have a friend over that is usually `hard up` for money. I searched on LeadsOnline but could not locate the DS by serial number. I then entered the friend’s name and BOOM, there was the friend’s name on a transaction ticket with a red Nintendo DS. She did not want her friend charged, she just wanted her property back and for me to tell the friend she was not welcome at the residence anymore. I called the friend and initially played dumb. She was very rude and vulgar with me as she put the blame on the owner’s kids saying that they probably stole the DS or that the kids maybe took it to the pool and left it. I then informed her that I had the transaction slip in my hand with her name and what she sold and when. There was nothing but silence on the phone. I then informed her she was not being charged and she confessed to everything. Her attitude with me over the phone changed and she was apologetic and appreciative and even called me honey before the conversation ended.”

Ofc. Jason Stiles
Mason City Police Department
Iowa

“With LeadsOnline.com, I was able to find my suspect, make two arrests and wrap up a felony theft case in less than 24 hours. It only took 5 minutes to locate all of the businesses where the suspect had been pawning stolen items.”

Ofc. Kevin Smith
Merkel Police Department
Texas

“I would like to inform you of my recent success with LeadsOnline. I obtained my LeadsOnline account this month, and since then, I have investigated two burglaries. I was able to identify suspects in both burglaries and recover some of the property. In the second instance, I was able to recover most of the stolen property within 72 hours of the crime. LeadsOnline is a great tool and has helped me greatly.”

Ofc. Kevin Ott
Moline Police Department
Illinois

“The victim reported his lawn mower stolen this month. I conducted a check of the serial number in LeadsOnline. I discovered the lawn mower had been sold at a local business. I confiscated the lawn mower and returned it to the victim. I also secured an arrest warrant for the individual who sold the stolen lawn mower.”

Ofc. Roger Caillouet
New Orleans Police Department
Louisiana

“Recently, a theft of a lawn mower, miter saw, edger, air compressor, and nail gun took place in New Orleans. The victim was able to recover his lawn mower at the suspect’s house and the air compressor was recovered during the execution of a search warrant. The suspect’s name was checked in LeadsOnline and I was able to find the edger and miter saw in a local business. The items were confiscated and identified by the victim. Without LeadsOnline the victim would not have been able to get his property back.”

Ofc. Roger Caillouet
New Orleans Police Department
Louisiana

“LeadsOnline saved me a boat load of work. A citizen reported several items stolen during a home invasion, including a laptop computer, iPad, camera and other electronics. I checked her name in LeadsOnline and discovered she had pawned the computer and iPad just days before making the false report. I confronted the citizen with the information found, and she confessed to making a false report for financial reasons. Thanks LeadsOnline!!!”

Ofc. Mike Burrough
Northville Township Police Department
Michigan

“We arrested a man and charged with Home Invasion, and he was arraigned on one count of Home Invasion. This was all because of the evidence we received from LeadsOnline.”

Ofc. K. Weir
Oakland County Sheriff’s Office
Michigan

“LeadsOnline keeps me so busy I don’t usually have time to give them the pat on the back they deserve. I have solved numerous cases because of LeadsOnline and their awesome staff. I’m currently working a case where a couple stole from an elderly couple, and the victims refused to believe that the suspects in this case had stolen from them. I told the victims that I knew 100{eaf91c7142ede36c84724a2d24afac6a4a8d633fc6fbb2c5a4d5437c75438ec9} who sold their stolen items because LeadsOnline nailed them, and I was able to recover ALL of their property. Thanks LeadsOnline for your continued efforts to help us help our victims.”

Ofc. Odis Carden
Odenville Police Department
Alabama

“While using LeadsOnline I became aware of a male who was selling cookware at various locations throughout Philadelphia and in New Jersey. After making contact with the businesses and retrieving bar codes, it was determined that the items were being stolen directly from the warehouse in New Jersey. Another officer notified the owner of the warehouse which led him to contact the police in New Jersey. New Jersey law enforcement arrested the employee of the company who was stealing cases of merchandise. The merchandise was in the thousands of dollars. LeadsOnline has been a great tool!!”

Ofc. Eric Ruch
Philadelphia Police Department
Pennsylvania

“Port St. Lucie Police Detectives were investigating a burglary, and we didn’t have any suspect information or basically any leads. We received a LeadsOnline notification that a digital camera that was reported stolen was sold at a local shop. We went to the shop and verified that the camera was in fact our victim’s. When we spoke to the person who sold the camera they advised us that his accomplice was responsible for five residential burglaries and that he gave him the camera to sell. Throughout our investigation, we recovered a camera, multiple gaming systems, a firearm, U.S. Currency, and several other items. This case would not have been solved without the LeadsOnline report. This case was cleared by arrest and two suspects are now in jail. Thank you LeadsOnline!”

Ofc. Timothy Bordt
Port St. Lucie Police Department
Florida

“In May, I was dispatched to a theft complaint. I later found out that the victim’s granddaughter’s boyfriend had stolen jewelry from the grandparents. I searched the suspects name on LeadsOnline and found that he had sold the jewelry. The jewelry has since been held and will be returned back to the rightful owner.”

Ofc. Ron Reardon
Riverside Police Department
Ohio

“I recently solved a case by searching LeadsOnline that included more than 30 to 40 victims from two jurisdiction. I located an iPod that was pawned at a local pawn shop just one day after the theft. During the summer, several jurisdictions were getting hit with larceny from vehicles that had occurred overnight. By finding this one iPod, it led myself and several detectives to a house that contained over 50 stolen items. As I was searching LeadsOnline for stolen property related to a burglary I was investigating, I came across two class rings that were pawned. These two class rings were very unique, and they actually had a named inscribed on the inside of the ring. By working with our crime analyst, we were able to determine that the rings were stolen from a neighboring jurisdiction. The rings were part of a burglary series that has led to one person being charged. LeadsOnline is a great asset to my department, and I will continue to use it on a daily basis.”

Ofc. Justin Hubbard
Roanoke County Police
Virginia

“I solved a case that included over 30-40 victims in two jurisdictions. I searched LeadsOnline and located an iPod that was sold at a local business just one day after the theft. During the summer, several jurisdictions were getting hit with larceny from vehicles that occurred overnight. By finding this one iPod, it led myself and several detectives to a house that contained over 50 stolen items. As I was searching LeadsOnline for stolen property related to a burglary I was investigating, I came across two class rings that were sold. These two class rings were very unique, and they actually had a name engraved on the inside of the ring. By working with our crime analyst, we were able to determine that the rings were stolen from a neighboring jurisdiction. The rings were part of a burglary series that has led to one person being charged. LeadsOnline is a great asset to my department, and I will continue to use it on a daily basis.”

Ofc. Justin Hubbard
Roanoke County Police Department
Virginia

“I took a report of stolen property and received a couple suspect names and ran them on LeadsOnline. The stolen property was sold just 25 minutes after being stolen. Thanks for making my job easier, LeadsOnline. The victim now has his property back and the two bad guys went to jail!”

Ofc. Greg Cox
Roland Police Department
Oklahoma

“Since starting to use LeadsOnline I have solved three burglaries in the last few months.”

Ofc. Mark Rutherford
Sallisaw Police Department
Oklahoma

“I found a stolen iPhone sold at an ecoATM kiosk. The iPhone had been lost by the owner hours before. The suspect was identified and digital pictures of the ecoATM transaction captured him with a female adult and female juvenile. The suspect was on probation for domestic violence for a brutal domestic violence incident. He was restrained from the victim and her children who were coincidentally with him during the transaction. The suspect was eventually arrested following a probation check-up and confessed to breaking the restraining order. In addition, the suspect confessed to taking the phone while at the same restaurant the victim had originally reported.”

Ofc. Brent Dawson
San Francisco Police Department
California

“A burglary was reported. My partners and I attempted to do what we could to locate a suspect. Unfortunately, we were unsuccessful. Later on, I discovered a suspect pawned items of a similar nature, which I confirmed through LeadsOnline. I also established an additional suspect. The additional suspect subsequently confessed to committing the burglary and having his buddy pawn the items. In addition, he confessed to committing another burglary in the same neighborhood. He also gave the XBox 360 and games to a different friend who pawned them at a game store.”

Master Dep. / Det. Russell Hilson
Polk County Sheriff’s Office
Florida

“Thanks LeadsOnline for helping me catch my thief. Our department was receiving larceny reports from a local retirement home. For the past two months, we were taking multiple larceny reports that seemed to come in every other day. I finally got tired of looking at these reports so I got a list from the retirement home of about 50+ employees. After running the list of names, LeadsOnline was able to show me where the stolen property was being sold and also landed a nurse in jail on numerous felony counts of larceny. Thanks LeadsOnline!”

Master Police Ofc. Mark Sweat
Elon Police Department
North Carolina

“I’ve had many success stories using LeadsOnline. It is my go-to database, even when I just need updated information on a person of interest. Today I was looking for a specific offender and noted he had transactions I hadn’t previously seen because his name had been spelled differently when entered by the pawn shop. Low and behold, there was the stolen DVD player I’d been looking for. This database is outstanding!”

Master Police Ofc. Laura Heckman
New Bern Police Department
North Carolina

“I received an email from LeadsOnline about a `Hit`. The offender brought in items that were reported stolen from a vehicle burglary. I then checked the suspect’s activity through LeadsOnline to see if he pawned anything else. There was an iPhone, but there were no reports of any thefts or burglaries where an iPhone was stolen. I then contacted Apple Security and gave them the Serial number. With that serial number, Apple contacted the registered owner of the device and advised them to contact me. The owner advised that sometime in August or September the iPhone was stolen from her parked vehicle, but she never reported it.”

Ofc. Michael Townsend
Aurora Police Department
Illinois

“I ran a search through LeadsOnline of a possible suspect from a burglary. The search hit on a TV that was pawned in Aurora. The TV was the same make and model as the one stolen in the burglary. This property was recovered and identified by the victim as her TV. Even though the victim did not have the serial number, the make/model and the fact that the suspect pawned the item shortly after the theft was enough to recover the item.”

Ofc. Michael Townsend
Aurora Police Department
Illinois

“In a neighboring agency, a young woman had a firearm stolen. It was determined that her father had stolen the firearm from her and sold it at a business. Her father then fled and was not seen again for several years. The agency issued a felony warrant for his arrest; however, the case went cold. The victim stated that her father was a good man prior to falling in with the wrong crowd and marrying a woman affiliated with that crowd. The victim provided me with a name and date of birth. Using LeadsOnline, I searched for that woman and two entries were found. Both were where the suspects had sold some power tools and cellular phones. I immediately passed the information along and within two days, a suspect who had been on the run for two years was placed in custody and is awaiting extradition. Although the neighboring agency receives credit for the arrest, I was proud to play an integral part in the location and apprehension of the suspect.”

Ofc. Byron Johncox
Cave Springs Police Department
Arkansas

“I found a ring belonging to an elderly female in Fort Worth. I was able to get the ring back and make the woman happy. We also prosecuted the suspect.”

Ofc. Samuel Hernandez
Celina Police Department
Texas

“After having one of our Police bikes stolen, we were able to track it down within 12 hours using LeadsOnline. We never would have found it without the help from LeadsOnline. I can’t imagine why someone would sell a bicycle with ‘POLICE’ written across it… but they did!”

Ofc. Robert Simmons
Chattanooga Police Department
Tennessee