Louisville police searching for owners of stolen property after recent arrests (2024)

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Investigators with Louisville Metro Police are looking for the owners of stolen property valued at $50,000 that was recently recovered after three people were arrested earlier this week.

Most of the stolen property was taken during garage break-ins all over the city. LMPD held a news briefing late Friday morning to showcase some of the property that has been recovered.

LMPD has already notified one person who filed a theft report and she was able to recover some wall cabinets. Traci Titus said while they're just cabinets, they were full of personal items, and she called it an invasion of privacy.

"It was very scary to have that happen," Traci Titus said.

Titus said thieves broke into her detached garage and ripped the cabinets off the wall in May. She estimated the loss at "probably about $4,000."

As a retired teacher, the cabinets were stocked with tools for her hobby and a side job she has working with furniture.

Titus said she also used the cabinet to store her spare car keys, which left her fearful that someone would be back to get her car.

"It was every night thinking 'is he coming back?'"

She's not alone.

LMPD said serial burglars have been taking anything they could get their hands on from homes over the past few weeks.

"There's tons of tools, and all that stuff adds up, it's pretty expensive," said LMPD Sgt. Joseph Keeling.

Some of that "stuff" includes items like lawn mowers, ladders, bikes and more. LMPD estimates officers have recovered more than $50,000 worth of stolen property. Police have posted pictures of some of the items on the LMPD Facebook page.

Keeling said the arrests were made possible "thanks to the hard work of third division detectives with the tremendousnumber of tips from the public." He said detectives from the third and fifth divisions acted on those tips and served search warrants Thursday at two locations. Police also found narcotics during the searches.

"It took us a couple of weeks to kind of see the pattern that we had," Keeling said. "It was obviously serial number burglaries, not just random burglaries."

So far three people were arrested in connection with the burglaries, Keeling said.

Meanwhile, Titus has invested in some security measures -- something she wishes she would have done before she became a victim.

"It's kinda one of those things -- 'well, I'll wait until I get a little more money,' you know? The day it happens I'm out, and I found that money. I wish I had found that money when I moved in," Titus said.

If you think LMPD may have some of your stolen property, you can prove it's yours by using the item's serial number and/or a proof of purchase. If you don't have that, you can try to use something else to prove it belongs to you.

For Titus it was the remnants of an instruction label, and some spilled paint.

"There was blue paint in this one," Titus said as she pointed to one of the cabinets. "And I said 'I hope it spills all over his truck.' It did -- it's all over the cabinet now."

You can also use any pictures you may have of the items in your home.

"The lesson that I have learned: I will be taking pictures of everything," Titus said.

LMPD investigators said now is a good time to write down serial numbers or mark your property with a unique personal identification in case it is ever stolen.

"You can scratch it in there, write it on there with a permanent marker, something like that," said LMPD Maj. Boeckman. "So that when we do recover it from a pawn shop, or wherever it is that we do recover from, we're able to get it back to you."

Police believe the thieves hit several parts of town, so dozens of people may be able to recover their stolen items.

The first step is to call the Third Division Detectives Squad at 502-574-7981 and have the report number you received when you reported the items were stolen. It usually begins with this prefix: LMPD24xxxxxx.

"We can work with you, Keeling said.

If you don't have a report number, you may be able to use a receipt or proof of purchase.

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