Traffic arrest leads cops to stolen-goods center

Members of Neighborhood Watch groups are supposed to keep an eye on their neighbor's homes and report any suspicious activity.

But at least one such group in Southwest Las Vegas may have been somewhat lax in their alertness.

A sign on a street light post in front of a house at 3108 Sleepy Hollow Way identifies the quiet street as a member of Neighborhood Watch.

Thursday afternoon the yard beside the post was filled with an array of stolen goods removed from the residence by Metro Police.

Rooms inside the home were filled with more property, much of it tools stolen from construction sites and computer equipment.

Five suspects were arrested Thursday and jailed on charges related to dealing in stolen property.

Two other suspects were released pending further investigation.

Among the merchandise was sophisticated surveillance equipment, apparently stolen and set up inside the residence to watch the the neighborhood, especially the front walkway.

"They had a video monitor in the house and could see if an officer would walk up to the door to serve a warrant," said one of the larceny detail officers looking through the mounds of items.

This was a classic fencing operation that may have been operating on the Neighborhood Watch block for a year or more.

"Dopers go out and steal stuff off construction sites or trucks and bring it here to trade for guns, cash or drugs," Metro Lt. Gary Schofield said.

In addition to the stolen property, officers found a quantity of methamphetamine and $5,200 in cash.

Schofield said a traffic stop led to the un-doing of the fencing operation.

A patrolman stopped a motorist who was driving erratically. The man was wanted for parole violation in California.

Larceny investigators and Metro Police detectives in the Southeast Command, where the traffic stop was made, began investigating and turned up the stolen property in the southwest part of town.

'There's tons of stuff in the house," Schofield said.

One officer said it looked like "the tool department at K-Mart."

A neighbor, who asked not to be identified, said he suspected for a long time something unusual was going on in the house.

"Cars would pull up and people would get out and go in the house and stay five minutes and leave," he said. "There would be as many as 20 cars show up on any given night, but most of it was on weekends."

The neighbor has owned his home for 20 years but only moved into it in October. A daughter lived there before then.

He said he believed three men lived there full-time, but a lot of people would come and go, spending a few days there or longer.

"The ones who lived there were friendly. They talked and mowed their yard," he said.

The neighbor never saw goods being brought in or taken out and had no idea the house was filled with stolen property.

"This was the first time I ever saw the garage door open," he said.

The neighbor described area residents as friendly and quiet.

"We watch out for each other," he said.

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