if you buy a stolen item (not knowing it was stolen) and the police find out you have it can they take it?

Answer 1

Yes, they can take it as evidence of a crime.

But, they cannot charge with receiving stolen property you unless they believe, and could prove in court, you knew it was stolen when you bought it.

Answer 2

Yes they can take it, and even worse you can be held both civilly and criminally liable for possession of stolen property. The old legal addage "let the buyer beware" applies to this premise as well which is why most people shop at reputable stores. That way if something is stolen and sold to you there is a hedge of protection in place to prevent you from being in too much trouble.

Answer 3

Yes, under the premise you cannot sell something that is not yours by law. Like if someone stole, then sold your car ($100,000) to an innocent party (for $1). The car, by rights is yours, therefore you would get it back. So if this is your situation, and the cops seize the property, you loose, and I don't think the person you brought it from will give you a refund. I would really, really think hard about it, once you are in the laws "radar," it's not a real good thing. Best of luck. By the way, Merry Christmas. Chow

Answer 4

Yes, it's called deterring the consequences of theft. In Texas it's under CCP 18.16. The police officer seizes the property and then takes it to the local judge at a set date and time and explains why he/she has reason to believe it's stolen. The person it was taken from is notified of the time and location and
can present his/her side or proof of ownership.
Of all the property I have seized, I've never seen the person show up to claim it.

Answer 5

I think you guys are not reading the Question properly. He said "not knowing it was stolen." How can you charge someone who bought the property not knowing is was stolen?

The police can seize the property because the seller does not have the title and as such he can not transfer the title to the buyer.

Answer 6

Not only can they take it
you could wind up with your picture on channel 6 news as they arrest you with a story line like --crime syndicate busted !!
In the U S purchasing stolen goods can be a chargable offense !!

Funny thing here though---sometimes the very goods that they take from you --- never make it back to the original owners and in fact wind up in Police auctions !!! So-- you might say that in those cases -- the crime goes on-- with the Police taking pocession of the stolen goods (knowing that they were in fact stolen) and then selling them off at auction (the new buyer is in fact now the new buyer of stolen goods---and could by the same law be arrested for pocession of stolen goods) IS THIS NOT AN AMUSING LITTLE SIDE NOTE ????????

Answer 7

Yes they will take it, and likely the person in possession of the item as well. They will then investigate thoroughly the circumstances of how this item came into this persons possession and if evidence is present that there was foreknowledge of the item being stolen, that person will likely be arraigned.

Answer 8

Possession of stolen propery, receiving stolen property ring a bell? Obviously, you have some idea it is stolen so what do you think??

Answer 9

yes. and they will. And may get a warrant to search the rest of your property for more stolen items.
If it sounds like too good of a deal.....
If you ask for a bill of sale and the seller is unwilling to sign it, they probably have something to hide. Hmmm, I wonder what it might be.
Give the dude up. Thieves suck. You just cannot trust them.

Answer 10

yes they can take it, and if they even think you might have known it was stolen, they can charge you with possesion of stolen goods...just turn the item into them, then you wont have to worry about it...good luck!