Craigslist, an online bulletin board for goods and services, can be a great way to find bargains or in this case, items stolen from your home.
According to Los Angeles County Sheriffs Deputies, a home was burglarized in Lancaster on June 26, during which a firearm, computers, and tattoo equipment were stolen.
Weeks later, the burglary victims decided to browse Craigslist in order to replace the items stolen from their home. They did find perfect replacements – too perfect.
Don’t miss a thing. Get breaking news alerts delivered to your inbox.
They saw what they believed to be their stolen tattoo equipment for sale and reported it to the Lancaster Sheriff’s Station.
The Burglary Suppression Team conducted a sting operation on Monday, inviting the person advertising the items to bring them up from Los Angeles to Lancaster.
Suspect Dennis Hyde, a 40 year old male, arrived with the tattoo equipment and it was positively identified as the victims’ stolen property. The seller was arrested by Lancaster deputies on felony suspicion receiving stolen property.
A search warrant was served Thursday at Hyde’s home located in the 900 block of West 42nd St. in Los Angeles.
At the location, the Lancaster Burglary Suppression Team discovered marijuana packaged for sale, an electronic scale, and other evidence of drug sales.
Additionally, numerous items including electronics, jewelry, camera, and musical equipment valued at $10,000 –all believed to be stolen- were recovered from the location.
Investigators learned that, at the time of this arrest, Hyde was out on bail for marijuana possession.
Hyde is being held in a Los Angeles County jail in lieu of $45,000 bail.
Additional narcotics and receiving stolen property charges are pending. Deputies say the investigation is continuing.