WEST VALLEY CITY — City officials revoked the business license of a pawn shop here after a police sting found it was accepting new merchandise without properly recording the items' identification numbers and tracking the sellers.
Million Dollar Pawn and Loan, 3526 S. 1950 West, has 30 days to close its doors or appeal the decision to 3rd District Court, West Valley City Attorney Ryan Robinson said.
On March 12, undercover police found five new electronic tools that were donated to the pawn shop by a local hardware store, Robinson said. State law requires pawn shops to record identification numbers on accepted merchandise and keep thumb prints of the sellers in a database for all transactions worth more than $20. Sellers also must sign a statement that they are the owners of the merchandise. The requirements assist law enforcement in tracking stolen items and returning them to their proper owners, Robinson said.
But the city's licensing board determined that the pawn shop accepted the electronic tools without making some of the proper checks, a West Valley City statement said.
The licensing board considered the evidence last week at a hearing. It made its decision a few days later, Robinson said. The city did not release the information to the public until Thursday.