Stolen property displayed on West Side

June 1, 2012 (CHICAGO) (WLS) -- Hundreds of items stolen in Chicago and from several suburbs were put on display Friday by Chicago Police.

Items ranged from flat-screen televisions to construction equipment. People who had items stolen got to come in and see if their property has been recovered.

In a recent raid of a home on the West Side, police were looking for illegal weapons. The search yielded seven firearms in addition to a host of other stolen items.

Fifty-year-old Willie Sutton was arrested and charged. He is in custody and awaiting trial.

"One person was the fence, and that is who we took down, the person was buying and dealing merchandise," said Chicago Police Sergeant Michelle Rubino. "We identified the victims from the suburbs, Bolingbrook, Lombard, Schaumburg, some we also identified from the city."

Greg Johnson, of a Burr Ridge music company, said several instruments valued at around $20,000 were stolen last year from one of their trucks at a convention in the city. The instruments are rented to school children.

"This is good police work," said Johnson. "They came across a huge operation and recovered all of these instruments."

The value of the recovered property is estimated to exceed $300,000.

On display were 26 bikes, swords, flat-screens, construction power tools, laptops. One item was valued at $30,000. All types of cameras and photo equipment were stolen from construction sites in the city.

"They had the stuff inside the vehicle while they were up a poll or eating, and their vehicle gets broken into," said Rubino.

The items go back as far at 2002 through March of this year.

Police also confiscated close to 70 drivers licenses, including one belonging to Tracy Kippenhoefer

"I am happy he was caught and not going to hold on for another 10 years," said Kippenhoefer.

No property will be turned over unless claimant presents proof of ownership.

The stolen property will be on display through Monday. It's at the 15th District headquarters at 5701 West Madison. It can be viewed from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

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