Stolen property recovered in Cache raid

CACHE, OK (KSWO) - A raid on a store in Cache has landed one man behind bars, accused of running an illegal pawn shop that was filled with stolen property.

54-year-old Wayne Gibson was arrested on complaints of possessing stolen items and operating as a pawnbroker without a license. Police raided The Trading Post, near Highway 62 and Highway 115 in Cache, Tuesday afternoon after getting several tips that the business was selling stolen items.  They found a huge stash of property and what authorities described as an enormous amount of money.

During that raid, police found everything from guitars to guns to televisions that were being illegally pawned from the business. Cache Mayor Shawn Komahcheet said this is not the first time Gibson has faced legal trouble for possessing stolen items.

"We know back in 2011 the Comanche County Sheriff's Department did an investigation on a burglary and Mr. Gibson was in possession at that time of stolen property from residents of Indiahoma," Komahcheet said. "He was given a warning by the Sheriff's office and DA's office to stop taking in stolen property."

Clearly, Gibson did not heed that warning and while every item might not actually be stolen, early tests showed that at least some of it is.

"There was so much in here and what we did was basically seize everything with a pawn ticket on it," Komahcheet said. "We know of at least 7 or 8 items that we ran specifically that has come back stolen, including a handgun from Oklahoma City."

Komahcheet said that while police were talking with Gibson, he actually admitted to them that he had been working as a pawnbroker.

"Even giving them money, basically 20 dollars on a 100 was what he had been charging them. He had been doing it for years," Komahcheet said.

Now, the Cache Police Department is hoping to get those stolen items back to their rightful owners.

"We're needing victims of theft and burglary to come forward and contact your agencies that filed your police reports from, whether its Comanche County, the City of Cache, Tillman County, Kiowa County, any of the surrounding counties," Komahcheet said. "Contact them, let them know that we have received a bunch of stolen items and they can contact us."

Komahcheet said he is extremely proud of the Cache Police Department for their hard work. They handed all of their information over to the District Attorney's office Tuesday afternoon.

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