privacy . help cant find anything like this online

[pat83]

I had a broken heater and called a repair man to come in my house when I was not here . The next day the police was here with a search warrant for something the repair man said was a stolen item. The repair man wrote serial number off the item and called police? I know the cops had all rights to get a search warrant. My question is can the repair man go through my things like that? Call the cops on things in my house?

 

[Betty3]

How did the repairman know it was stolen? (Was it?)
What was the item?
Was it out in plain view?

Thanks.

 

[pat83]

It was an item that diagnosis machine for a car. The item I bought off the streets and was a stolen item but didn't know until cops came with the warrant. The item I guess you could say not in plain site but not hidden either. I don't know what made the repair man call this in to the police.

 

[pat83]

I'm assuming he wrote the Von number down and reported it to police and came up stolen

 

[Betty3]

I don't know what the police said to you but you might want to talk to a lawyer & only a lawyer.

 

[mightymoose]

Not illegal at all. The repair man had permission to be in your home and he is not subject to the same restrictions as law enforcement is.Plain view is not an issue. He could have gone through your closets and ransacked the house and it would be just as legitimate.

 

[Betty3]

As I noted, I don't know what the police might have said to you or you to them but there are circumstances when you can get in trouble/be arrested for having stolen property whether you knew it was stolen or not. You still might consider speaking to a lawyer. One reason/circumstance can be when you buy something off the street - it is sometimes assumed you should have known there was a chance it was stolen.