On its Facebook page, Richie’s Pawn & Guns in Tamarac touts its more than two decades of experience in the pawn industry and says “you’ll be amazed by what you can find and its low cost.”
The business at 5227 N. State Road 7 was raided, Tuesday, by detectives from the Broward Sheriff’s Office after “a year-long investigation into an organized retail crime operation where the suspects knowingly sold stolen merchandise,” the agency said.
The operation was dubbed “Getting Rich,” a word play on the name of the business.
Timothy Skehan, 34, and Brandon Etskovitz, 22, were arrested at about 12:30 p.m. Tuesday and were being booked into the Broward Main Jail in Fort Lauderdale. They are facing numerous counts of organized dealing in stolen property.
Skehan, of Margate, and Etskovitz, of Southwest Ranches, were expected to attend a first-appearance hearing Wednesday morning in a Broward County courtroom.
Boxes of seized merchandise were stacked outside the shop as investigators went in and out carrying various items.
At least half of the property in the pawn shop was stolen with an estimated worth of more than $100,000, said Sgt. Rich Rossman.
“The entire back half of the store is full from floor to ceiling of new-in-box merchandise,” he said.
Drug addicts would steal from retailers then pawn the items at the store knowing employees would not question the source of the merchandise, Rossman said.
“The [employees] were taking advantage of many of the addicted persons coming here, paying well below even the pawn norm,” he said. “About 25 cents on the dollar.”
Rossman said investigators planned to share information with victimized retailers such as CVS, Home Depot and others so they could take steps to increase security and prevent future thefts.
More arrests were expected.
Staff writer Tonya Alanez contributed to this report.
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