ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. – The EZ Money Pawn Shop on U.S. 1 south of St. Augustine was shut down and raided Tuesday as part of an investigation into whether or not the pawn shop was dealing in stolen goods, police said.
Deputies served a warrant at the shop and detectives spent Tuesday going through the shop's inventory and comparing it to items stolen in recent burglaries.
Deputies set up a command post and were at the store for most of the day, much to the dismay of customers trying to get belongings that they took loans on from the owner.
Renita Dyer needed a quick loan so she came to EZ Money and pawned a ring and a computer tablet. She was at the store Tuesday trying to pick them up again, but instead of getting her belongings, Dyer was confronted by deputies.
"Today was the day I was supposed to be paying it off, so I am hoping I won't lose my stuff. I'm a little angry, that just made me a little upset. I kind of trusted them," Dyer said.
Other people are equally upset, like Martin Hayes, who pawned a very expensive grill.
"I am devastated. I got a $1,500 barbecue grill and I'll probably never see again. That was my moneymaker," Hayes said.
Detectives are not saying much about the raid, only that they had probable cause and a court order to investigate the records and merchandise at the pawn shop.
"It's a lengthy investigation. We are looking for alleged stolen property inside the store. We will be here for at least a couple of days, trying to determine what items were stolen," Kevin Kelshaw, with the St. Johns County Sheriff's Office, said.
News4Jax did reach out to the owner of the shop but has not heard back yet. The St. Johns County Sheriff's Office also said that no arrests have been made as of yet and no charges have been filed.