Hey guys im hopeing someone in the connecticut area namely anyone that goes to dragons lair in west hartford, ct. A man named luis rivera came into a store tonight i was playing at grabbed my deck infront of 6 people and ran, and boy did he run. I couldnt catch him. But i know his name and so do the police. I also know where he plays and who he plays with. Only problem is the police dont know his address.
This is my line of work, so I'll try to give you some pointers as best as I can. Here are some questions:
* Did you get a police report number with an Officer's name?
* When can you reference this number so you can obtain the police report?
* How much was your deck worth? This will determine if this will be a misdamenor (Petty Theft) or a felony crime (Grand Theft). If your deck's value breaks the felony threshold in your state, more priortiy should be given to your case.
* If you were given a report number, (which you should have if the Police responded), have you followed up with the Officer that took the report? What has he/she done since you filed?
* Has the Police Officer questioned the subject's friends?
* Luis Rivera is a pretty common name. You'll need to obtain a correct Date Of Birth if you want to get an address.
* Is the subject in question a juvenile or an adult?
* Are you an adult or juvenile? If this is a misdamenor, are you prepared to make a citizen's arrest?
* Can you identity a the thief? What did he look like? Could you pick him out of a photo lineup?
* If it's a juvenile, ask his friends what school he attends. The police can then go directly to the school, now that they have a report to follow up with, and the school administration will most likely assist with locating the juvenile in class and/or hand over the subjects address. Often times, the Police will not have a juvenile's address on file because they haven't acquired a Driver's License yet.
* Whether the subject is an adult or juvenile, ask the Police Officer taking the report, to run an "In-House" check on the subject's name in order to reference previous Police contacts with a "Luis Rivera". This is another way to obtain an address. Most likely this person has stolen before and has some type of file. Anytime anyone's name gets "run out", the name gets logged in that department's "in house" database. Also aske the Police Officer to run an "In-House" check with neighboring cities. Often times neighboring cities will link up their suspect databases.
* If this person has been in trouble before, hopefully he/she is on some sort of probation, which can be a tremendous assest in recovering you cards.
* Do you have any proof that you owned those cards. I encourage everyone to videotape or photograph their valuable assests so they have some evidence of ownership. Very important.
* Have you spoken with this subjects friends? What did they say?
* Have you spoken with the store owners of where this kid plays and hopefully buys his cards? Ask them if he has purchased anything recently. If so, get that Officer to speak with that store owner. In my experiences, store owners will hand over receipts or customer information without a warrant. They hate thiefs just as much as the next guy.
It sucks having your property ripped off. No doubt about it. To be brutally honest, your case probably isn't as high a priority for the Police as you may wish. A lot of crimes could be solved if the Police simply had more resources they could spend to investigate all leads. Most likely they are on to other investigations. However, you can still do a lot on your own to assist them. It's incumbant upon you to actively pursue this on your own.
Talk to other players in the area. Offer some reward for information. Clearly someone knows something that can help you out. In my opinion, this is some kid younger than 16 years old that did this. He ran from the scene so he doesn't drive. He most likely is local, and if he isn't, he's a short bus ride away. People that don't drive don't take long bus trips to play magic. If he's local, he attends school somewhere. Once you get identify the school, the police can identify your thief. Good Luck.
