SOUTH BURLINGTON, Vt. (WCAX) – If your property is stolen what’s the likelihood you’ll get it back?
It’s violating enough to know someone’s been on your property. But victims say the waiting game that follows is a beast of its own.
Last fall Burlington resident Joshua Defibaugh awoke to find fifteen hundred dollars worth of camera equipment stolen from his car.
He alerted Burlington police and did some digging of his own.
“I texted and contacted many, many friends living in Burlington, just telling them to keep a lookout at like pawn shops or consignment shops. I called all of the camera stores, like Lizot and Green Mountain Camera.”
But it was Facebook Marketplace where he struck gold. There he found all of his equipment listed for sale. “Just in confusion as to how someone, how anyone could do that right?”
So he put in an offer, made plans to meet up with the seller, and then busted them with police. “They charged the individual with possession of stolen property,” said Defibaugh.
Not every victim of theft is so lucky.
Down the road in south Burlington police see an annual 500 personal property thefts. They say many items are gone for good and recovered items can be tricky to return to the owner.
“We get a lot of calls from people that have been victimized. ‘Bike’s been stolen. I saw this one on Facebook Marketplace. It has to be mine.’ There’s no way to prove that it’s theirs. That’s a challenge,” South Burlington Police Chief Shawn Burke.
Burke says stolen cars are often recovered and returned to owners but not in a salvageable state, “that’s always a big question, Mark.”
Jennifer Aines knows that all too well. Her camper was stolen from her yard in Topsham last summer.
When she finally got it back it was trashed, spray-painted and unusable. “Now we just have this ugly, really expensive lawn ornament sitting in our yard.”
Many theft victims, like Defibaugh, take matters into their own hands amid stalled cases and the hope of getting property back.
Chief Burke understands the drive for justice but cautions that it can complicate the investigation. “It’s like a live game of criminal chess and, you know, bad guys know, just like cops, know when things aren’t exactly right. And that’s not always the most efficient way to line things up,” said Chief Burke.
Instead, Burke recommends always reporting your case to law enforcement, no matter how small.
It’s also a reminder to lock your car take the keys with you, and note things like serial numbers that can make it easier to identify your property if it’s stolen.
