NEW YORK (WCBS 880) — A lawsuit is accusing the Suffolk County Police Department of seizing items from pawn shops and never giving them back.
Attorney Andrew Campanelli says the Suffolk County Police Department is conducting business like the wild west.
Campanelli says detectives have been allowed to walk into pawn shops, seize jewelry, coins and other items and then never have to tell the owners what happened.
He says 3,000 items have disappeared, with total losses around $10 million.
“They’ll just walk in and take something because of the way it looks,” he said.
The attorney filed two lawsuits against the county - one is a class action suit which all 200 pawn shop owners in the county could be a part of.
“They have no problem if it turns out to be stolen property and it goes back to the owner, the proper owner.” Campanelli said about the pawn shop owners, “The problem is they refuse, the detectives, and the police department and the district attorney’s office, refuse to tell them what happened to the property.”
The spokesperson for the county says they do not comment on pending litigation.