Shoplifting, Larceny, Robbery, Theft Charged with theft by unlawful taking movable prop

jayguy10000

New Member
I'll try to be short and simple. A guy was storing about $5000 worth of computers and stuff in my shop I was renting. The shop was actually divided in two sections. One side was used by me for the shop. The other side was un-used by me and was basically a storage site or a general purpose area. The guy said his home owners insurance said they would insure his stuff if it was stored on the unused side of the shop but not if they were in the actual business side of the shop itself. The guy was going to pay rent for storage. He paid $125 a month the first three months starting in Jan. then quit paying rent. He said I could put his computers out in the shop to try and sell them which I did. I didn't hear from him again until October when he wanted, or rather demanded his computer stuff back. Here's where the theft part comes in. Alot of his computers were incorrectly put together and had bad parts in them. For me to try and sell them I had to take some of them apart and make them workable and presentable. I gave him back everything he gave me. The ones I sold for him I gave him his cash for them. We had no written contract, no written inventory, no invoices. He got everything back that he brought over except that some of the computers were in a partial state of disassembly but still all the parts were there. He's telling his insurance company and the police I was taking his parts and fixing my own computers at his expense. This is an outright lie. He also stated in the report that he paid rent up to October which is another outright lie. He's also supposedly been paid by his insurance company $4700 which to me is fraud because his insurance company told him they wouldn't insure his stuff if it was on the business side which he knew they were.
 
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It's his word against yours.
I suggest you continue to tell the truth.
You should also provide a full accounting of the monies received and paid.
You should have taken pictures of his junk, conducted a written inventory in his presence, and obtained a signed receipt for the junk returned to him and the money.

I would never have agreed to store his junk.
That's why there are businesses who do store junk for people.
You've jeopardized your livelihood and your freedom for a lousy three hundred bucks!!!

In the future, don't mix business and friendship, and don't become a storage company while being in the computer business.

If you're telling the truth, you have nothing to worry about, maybe.
You'd have been smarter to never have gotten into this shady deal, and even smarter not to have tried to explain this stupidity to the cops.

Cops don't want to hear an explanation, they seek a confession, or a ridiculous explanation to obtain an arrest and conviction of a criminal.

Whatever you do in the future, make sure it's reduced to writing and agreed to by all parties.

Don't conduct a business using oral instructions that are often forgotten or misremembered.
 
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Thank you, lesson learned. I haven't made any statements to the police at all. I told the cop my lawyer will handle it. In fact I ceased all contact with this guy as soon as he started accusing me of stealing.
 
Thank you, lesson learned. I haven't made any statements to the police at all. I told the cop my lawyer will handle it. In fact I ceased all contact with this guy as soon as he started accusing me of stealing.

Smart move. If you continue to use your RIGHT to remain silent, as well as your RIGHT to "lawyer up"; you minimize the damage and protect yourself.

Good for you. Now you hunker down & wait out the storm.

The WHOLE thing might have been a set up, or a sting operation.
You had no way of knowing if his junk was worth anything, or if it ad been stolen.
Dude could have left you holding the HOT POTATO.
Always protect yourself, and make sure whatever you do keeps you safe.
 
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As you describe it this is not a theft. There may be something to pursue in a civil court, but criminal charges just would not work here.
 
You titled your thread charged with theft..... This might not hold up - let your lawyer handle things. Good luck.
 
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