[astalwick]

So, as the rightful owner of the laptop, with proof (serial numbers, receipts, etc), could she not just have walked in, asked to see it, and walked out with it? What are they going to do, call the police? And are the police really going to charge her with theft of her own property?

* edit: typo

[gambiting]

I am surprised the Police didn't take it away and give it back to her - she had all the proof the laptop was hers. It shouldn't be her problem that the pawnbroker paid anything for it, it wasn't theirs.

[alistairSH]

The cynic in me says the police officer got a share of the $225 under the table. Why else use an extrajudicial process for something that should be easily resolvable within the law?