Gadsden police recover stolen items

Gadsden police are trying to return hundreds of stolen items to their rightful owners.
The items  include non-firearms related weapons,  karaoke machines, musical instruments, car stereos, underwear.  More than a dozen unopened packs of both Haynes and Fruit of the Loom boxers and briefs.  Investigators said 75-year-old Joe Pearl sold these and other sealed items, such as toothbrushes and drills, at trade days.  Police seized those and other items Monday at Pearl's house.
Police said  Pearl was the guy in the neighborhood that everybody knows they can go and sell their stolen property to.  Police say they believe the items were in a trade, either through the sale of narcotics or through just a cash transaction outright."  Officers also discovered a large quantity of prescription medication at Pearl's house.  He has an outstanding warrant for his arrest for distribution of narcotics, and several prior arrests for the same charge.  Investigators believe Pearl is in Georgia, and expect he will turn himself in sometime in the next few days.  Rather than charge him with 200 or 300 misdemeanor counts for receiving stolen property,  police will charge Pearl with one felony count of receiving stolen property in the first degree.
Police are trying to match these items to previous cases on file, but many things were not reported stolen.  Investigators said if a person in the area is a recent victim of either a burglary or a car break-in, where the stolen item is unique or has a unique identifier, call the property crimes division at 256-549-4624

 All unclaimed property will go to a government auction.

According to Captain Paul Cody officers busted a large fencing operation this week.  I