What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Pennsylvania
A family member recently had some jewelry stolen from his house. He suspected that a "friend" stole the jewelry, confronted him, and he confessed. The jewelry was sold to a local "Cash for Gold" store earlier that week. (I don't have exact dates, but this all happened within a week.) The confession was verbal but was later followed up with several text messages clearly stating that jewelry was stolen and sold to a specific "Cash for Gold" store. The text messages were detailed.
The "Cash for Gold" store has records of the sale but is not providing any help.
My family member reported the theft to the local police department. A detective is working on the case. He has not contacted the detective for an update. ("let him do his job")
I advised my family member to do the following:
- don't talk to the suspected "friend" or anyone else about this case (other than police)
- don't respond to any text messages from the suspected "friend"
- send screenshots of all text messages to me for backup, just in case, however I assume that there would be a record of these messages from wireless providers
Questions:
- How would we file civil charges against the "friend" to recover damages? (assume ring is not recovered)
- Do we wait until criminal case is completed? (no criminal charges have been filed currently, not sure what will happen)
- Any advice on criminal charges are appreciated too!
Thanks!
A family member recently had some jewelry stolen from his house. He suspected that a "friend" stole the jewelry, confronted him, and he confessed. The jewelry was sold to a local "Cash for Gold" store earlier that week. (I don't have exact dates, but this all happened within a week.) The confession was verbal but was later followed up with several text messages clearly stating that jewelry was stolen and sold to a specific "Cash for Gold" store. The text messages were detailed.
The "Cash for Gold" store has records of the sale but is not providing any help.
My family member reported the theft to the local police department. A detective is working on the case. He has not contacted the detective for an update. ("let him do his job")
I advised my family member to do the following:
- don't talk to the suspected "friend" or anyone else about this case (other than police)
- don't respond to any text messages from the suspected "friend"
- send screenshots of all text messages to me for backup, just in case, however I assume that there would be a record of these messages from wireless providers
Questions:
- How would we file civil charges against the "friend" to recover damages? (assume ring is not recovered)
- Do we wait until criminal case is completed? (no criminal charges have been filed currently, not sure what will happen)
- Any advice on criminal charges are appreciated too!
Thanks!