Pawn shop owner guilty of receiving stolen tools

LACONIA — After a two-day trial, a city pawn broker was convicted by a Belknap County Superor Court jury on four counts of receiving stolen property for buying tools that he knew were stolen from Lowe's home improvement store.

Frederick W. Brent, 48, of 691 Weirs Blvd., the of the owner of Cash 'N' Toys at 1073 Union Avenue, remains free on bail and will be sentenced at a later date.

Belknap County Attorney Melissa Guldbrandsen said yesterday that one of the four convictions was a different theory of the same crime so Brent will be sentenced as as if he had three convictions.

According to court documents, on October 11 and 12, 2011 Brent bought tools from Richard A. McNeil, 38, 113 Shaker Road in Belmont after he allegedly stole them from the Gilford Lowe's store.

McNeil pleaded guilty in July to one count of felony receiving stolen property in connection to the Lowe's thefts. He was sentenced to 12 months in the Belknap County House of Corrections.

Documents said McNeil took the items, including a Bostitch framing nailer, a Bostitch finish nailer a Hitachi cordless drill combo kit and a Dewalt 20 volt hammer drill, to Brent who paid cash for them and who intended to resell them.

Laconia Police Detectives arrested Brent after they learned McNeil had hawked the power tools valued at more than $1,000. Guldbrandsen said video surveillance at the Gilford Lowe's corroborated McNeil's admission to police.

"This is an example of proactive community policing by the Laconia Police Department," Gulbrandsen said in a press release. "It is very common for thieves to bring stolen property to pawn shops and while many shops comply with the law, we expect due diligence before property is accepted at a pawn shop."

Guldbrandsen said yesterday that she feels so sorry for the victims of property crime — especially those who loose heirloom pieces with sentimental value.

"So often, they're just melted down and the metal is sold," she said.

The message she hopes pawn shops owners throughout Belknap County understand is that if they work to limit the market for stolen goods then the people who are inclined to steal them may be deterred.

"This was a great job and a great investigation," said Laconia Police Chief Christopher Adams yesterday.

He said the city has a number of pawn shops and the city has a high level of property crime and, unfortunately, the two can go hand-in-hand.

He said about two years ago, the city strengthened its ordinances governing pawn shops and the new ordinances have made it easier for police to track potentially stolen property.

"The ordinance certainly keeps us in the fight," he said. "We expect that pawn shop owners who suspect something is stolen are responsible enough to call the police."

Adams also said that many of the city's pawn shop owners obey the rules and are proactive and helpful in their dealings with police.

This year and at the encouragement of their individual police chiefs, selectmen in Gilford and Belmont also enacted stricter ordinances for second-hand dealers and pawn shops with the same goal of reducing outlets for the sales of stolen property.