Anything here look familiar?

Byline: Edward Russo The Register-Guard

Jill Hammer and John Bauer were among the lucky ones on Saturday.

Both were reunited with some of their stolen goods at a public display of pilfered property put on by the Lane County Sheriff's Office.

"I'm elated," Hammer said, after finding two Yamaha all-terrain vehicles belonging to her family among the stolen merchandise on exhibit at the Lane County Public Works Department's shops.

"I'm very lucky," said Bauer, who recovered about one-fifth of the tools and other items stolen last year from his home in the Santa Clara area north of Eugene.

However, most of the 140 burglary victims who attended the display weren't so fortunate.

They arrived hoping to find items that had been stolen from their homes, businesses or cars, but they left empty-handed.

The county's stolen-goods display continues today at the county shops on North Delta Highway, just north of Belt Line Road.

Musician Carl Faddis of Eugene walked over to the half-dozen guitars propped against a wall, searching for his beloved Ibanez that had been stolen from his van last year.

"I don't see mine," he said. "They (the thieves) must have taken it to Salem or Portland by now."

Burglaries, many of them committed by methamphetamine users, are commonplace in Lane County and throughout Oregon.

Evidence of the drug scourge was plain to see under sunny skies on Saturday. Arranged in lines on the pavement, the stolen property included drills, chain saws, weed trimmers, hydraulic jacks, table saws, portable generators, outboard motors, a kayak and a drum set. Several wrench-filled tool chests and other implements - including dozens of fishing poles - also were on display.

Authorities recovered the property last fall and winter from the homes of David Clifford Mitchell of Cheshire and Michael John Watts of Florence.

Mitchell was arrested earlier this year for breaking into the Benton County Public Works Department as well as for several burglaries in Lane County.

Last month, Watts was sentenced to five years in prison for receiving stolen property in exchange for metham- phetamine.

Authorities think the property may have come from Linn, Lane, Coos, Lincoln and Benton counties.

As people looked over the items, they talked with sheriff's deputies and each other about the brazenness of burglars, and how the thefts affected their lives.

Diesel mechanic Robert Gay of Eugene is still looking for $53,000 worth of tools stolen from him 2 1/2 years ago.

Gay said his former employer told him that he did not have insurance, so Gay has had to dig deep into his own pocket to buy expensive replacements.

He found a couple of drills and wrenches on Saturday, but "it doesn't put a dent into what he lost," said his wife, Melissa.

Bauer recovered his items after showing sheriff's deputies the police report he filled out after he was burglarized in February 2005.

Hammer and Bauer are proof that it pays to pay attention to the news. Neither knew about the public display of stolen goods until hearing about it on television.

Hammer, a Bethel-area resident, caught a TV news report that showed the stolen items, including her all-terrain vehicle with the distinctive stitching on the seat. To her delight, a second ATV belonging to her husband also had been retrieved.

Among other items, Bauer recovered a Cannondale bicycle and a treasured fishing pole that his father had given his 15-year-old daughter.

He said he has become more cautious since the burglary. "I put a security system on my home and garage," Bauer said. "A burglary really changes your life."

With break-ins so common, people should put identifying marks on their possessions, and record their "make, model and serial number," said Paula Bell, a property evidence technician with the sheriff's department.

That way, if the property is stolen it's easier for authorities to find the owner, she said.

"Everybody means to do it," Bell said. "But if people don't, they will wish they had after their stuff is taken."

STOLEN PROPERTY

The Lane County Sheriff's Office continues today displaying stolen property at the Lane County Shops, hoping to reunite owners and their stolen items.

Who's invited: Burglary victims, including people who did not file a stolen property report. The latter must fill out a police report to make a claim.

When: 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Where: 3040 N. Delta Highway, Eugene

Protecting personal property: Inscribe name, Oregon driver's license number or some other identifying mark on equipment and other valuable possessions; keep a record of brand, model and serial numbers.

CAPTION(S):

Andy and Kathy Hergert search through stolen goods at Lane County Public Works on Saturday for tools taken from their business in Drain.