SOUTHERN COLORADO — Caution tape still surrounds four local pawn shops in Colorado Springs and Pueblo, as multiple law enforcement agencies continue a raid over several days.
"I am concerned about our community, but I'm not entirely surprised," says J.D. Arvizo, who lives in Pueblo West.
Arvizo performs educational shows for kids for a living, teaching them science through props like robots.
In early February. Arvizo woke up to find most of his robots had been stolen from his trailer.
Arvizo says he immediately filed a report with the Pueblo County Sheriff's Office, but the most shocking moment was when he walked into the Top Dollar Pawn located in downtown Pueblo about one month later.
"Saw a couple robots that looked like mine... I asked the manager if I could see them, and when my eyes lit up when she brought them to me... She asked me if I thought they were mine and I told her I was certain they were mine."
Another day, Arvizo walked into the other Top Dollar Pawn location in Pueblo off of Highway 50. He says the owner at the shop tried to sell him another robot, which was also his, and he told her the robot was stolen from him.
"She became agitated, escalated it, accused me of calling her a liar and then kind of ran me out of the store."
Arvizo never got his things back.
Meanwhile in Colorado Springs, Meghanne Williams claims she started getting text messages from the Top Dollar Pawn off of North Academy earlier this year. She says the texts told her she needed to follow up about items she was pawning at the store.
"I just ignored them because I had never been there, so I just thought it was like a scam."
Williams eventually called the phone number she had been receiving messages from.
"I called them, talked to the lady and she had said it was my name, she gave me my date of birth, and she said she had my license on file so I was immediately like - Someone has my identity."
When Williams told the shop she was going to go to the police, she says the manager immediately called her back claiming the whole thing was a misunderstanding and the shop would remove her name from the books.
"I thought it was really suspicious."
Williams says the woman at the shop even knew her current address, where she has only lived for about one year.
Colorado Spring Police says if anyone has items they have pawned at these shops, law enforcement cannot help them. They will have contact Top Dollar Pawn directly for questions about items.
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