SAN DIEGO – Some people who had items stolen from them, were delighted to see their property was among almost 1,000 recovered by the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department.

“We want as many people as possible to come to see if their items are here,” said Detective Paul Oules.

The San Diego County Sheriff’s Department is trying to get nearly a thousand stolen items back into the hands of their rightful owners.

Local theft victims are invited to stop by the department’s property and evidence building on Overland Avenue in Kearny Mesa to see if their stuff is among the $250,000 worth of stolen property on display.

Some of the items include a lot of pricey power tools, generators and electronics along with other random household items.

“Aw, it’s phenomenal. It’s exciting,” said Anottor Namvar, a theft victim who stopped by the property and evidence building.

Namvar said his work van was broken into three times and had $20,000 worth of tools stolen in the Clairemont area.

“I didn’t think I was (going) find anything honestly. When I walked in here I recognized my stuff because I had them in a particular way and I’m seeing everything here so most of it,” Namvar explained.

Another theft victim who showed up at the property and evidence building was Ryan Kindred.

Kindred said he found a bunch of work tools that were stolen from job sites in Encinitas and Solana Beach.

“It made me feel great but unfortunately I didn’t get to find all my tools,” Kindred said. “I had about $5,000 worth of tools stolen from me. I only got about a quarter of them back, but something is better than nothing I guess you could say.”

Some other people were not so lucky, leaving the building empty-handed.

Sheriff’s detectives said the discovery of the stolen items started with a burglary in Encinitas and then in November 2022, they were led to Santee where all the stolen items were found in one storage unit.

Detective Oules said there is a person of interest in the case, but no arrests have been made.

“I did not expect to see this kind of collection of stolen items. This was the biggest case I’ve had,” Oules explained. “Seeing these victims actually come in and get their belongings back it’s a nice feeling.”

Any theft victims who want to go to the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department property and evidence building have one more opportunity on Saturday from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Anything that is unclaimed will go to auction.

Detectives said theft victims should come with an identification card. They also bring a case number or report number along with any serial numbers on the items.