Stolen property retuned to owners

PENSACOLA, Fla. (WALA) - It's not often that people get their stolen items returned to them. However, Friday the Pensacola Police Department had stolen items on display for people to claim back. There was everything from sneakers to diamonds.

When you walk into the Pensacola Police Department, it almost looked like a flea market. Sneakers, jewelry, DVDs, electronics, and all sorts of things were displayed on tables. Polie say it's stuff that was stolen from people's homes.

Linda Bauer's home was burglarized recently.

"They basically threw a brick through our kitchen windown, so they were able to reach in " said Bauer.

She isn't sure if the suspects in this case were the ones that hit her home, but she came here hoping to find what was taken.

"Its all my jewelry, mostly its not so valuable. It's very sentimental. I'm hoping some of its here," she said.

Police say the suspects would case the neighborhoods and later break in by knocking on the front door. When they realized no one was home, they would go around back and force their way in.

Police have arrested five suspects they believe are responsible for anywhere from 40 to 60 burglaries that happened in a four month period. Shane Williams, 23, Christopher Powers, 19, Jamarius James, 18, Shealton Parker, 16, and Deontrez D. Tillman, 16. They believe the suspects would sell the items on the street.

Bauer never found her jewelry, but there was a line people hopeful their stolen treasures could be on one of those tables.

If the items aren't claimed, they will keep them in evidence and try again later to get them back to the owners. In the meantime, people should look for some type of identification or receipts for the property.

"If they were involved in a specific crime, we'll look those cases up. If they have any identification in terms of property that would be helpful; model numbers, serial numbers, things like that," said Sgt. Jim Andrews.

If residents don't have receipts, they can still reclaim their property.

"If there's going to be some confusion about that, we'll do follow-ups to determine if we can release them at a later date. But they do need to come down and look at the property. We have quite a bit here and we would like to return it to them," Andrews said.

For more information, contact Pensacola Police at (850) 435-1965.