TERRE HAUTE —
A Terre Haute business owner and his partner face about 20 criminal charges related to stolen property after a 10-month investigation by the Terre Haute Police Department.
Search warrants were served Wednesday at Northside Collectables at 2323 Lafayette Ave., as well as at the homes of Don Bland on East Colonial Drive and Todd Carter on Wabash Avenue.
Carter, 40, was arrested on one count of corrupt business influence, a class-C felony; two counts of money laundering and eight counts of attempted receiving stolen property, class-D felonies; and eight counts of failure to obtain and retain information related to purchase of used jewelry, a class-A misdemeanor.
Bland was not arrested because he is seeking medical treatment, said Shawn Keen, assistant chief of investigations for the Terre Haute Police Department. Bland faces the same charges with an additional charge of corrupt business influence.
Keen said there is “a distinct possibility of future arrests” in the case. He made that statement during a media conference on Thursday afternoon at THPD.
According to information filed in Vigo Superior Court 1, Detective Charlies Burress began an investigation into the business in February after receiving a citizen complaint about the business purchasing used jewelry and not requiring the sellers to show identification prior to buying it, as required by law. It was also alleged that as long as the seller of the jewelry did not disclose information about it being stolen, the business would buy it.
The investigation involved confidential informants who took jewelry items purchased by THPD to the shop and sold those items without showing identification, while the business did not keep required records about the transactions. Police believe the business also violated a local ordinance when it failed to enter the transactions into an online database used by local police to track sales of second-hand merchandise.
Multiple transactions were audio recorded and video recorded in February, July and August.
Keen said multiple documents and records were seized from the business on Wednesday. Investigators will review that information to determine if anyone else is involved in the allegedly illegal venture, and if merchandise other than jewelry was being bought and sold.
On Thursday, Northside Collectables was closed. However, an adjoining hair salon was open for business. A request for comment from employees in the hair salon yielded no response.
Keen said the police department has been taking steps to improve its efficiency in investigating property crimes, and has supported the local mandate of electronic reporting on second-hand transactions. That has resulted in some decrease in crime, and an increase in the amount of stolen property that is recovered because of the electronic reporting, he said.
But Keen said the major factor in property thefts is the ease of converting items to cash, which has been found in other local cases, such as the 2010 bust of a southside jewelry store, and the recent bust of a local businessman who was alleged to be buying stolen property to resell.
The public sometimes does not understand the long-term commitment it takes to investigate property theft rings and businesses that purchase the stolen goods, he said, even though investigators still go after the burglary and theft suspects.
“We can often get a single charge for a theft,” he explained, “but that does not have much impact on the business’s ability to operate. That has led to placing more emphasis on these types of investigations. They are more involved and more long-term.”
Reporter Lisa Trigg can be reached at (812) 231-4254 or lisa.trigg@tribstar.com. Follow her on Twitter @TribStarLisa.
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Northside business owners charged with property theft
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