Owners Of Antique, Confederate Money Sought By LAPD

LOS ANGELES (CBS) — Police are looking for the owners of vintage currency that was found on a pair of suspected serial burglars who smashed in windows in the Melrose Village and Fairfax districts.

Rickie Porter, 22, of Lancaster, and William Black, 52, of Los Angeles were arrested Wednesday on suspicion of commercial burglary in connection with a series of burglaries in which plate glass windows of closed businesses would be smashed in and the burglars would enter and steal cash or merchandise. There were at least 10 such burglaries in the Wilshire area and a similar burglary in North Hollywood over the past month.

Police say the recovered currency was found as part of their investigation into the smashed window burglaries. The currency, which has been dated to the late 1800s through the early 1900s, appears to be part of collection and is in clear plastic protectors for preservation. Some of the money is currency and bank certificates from the Confederate States and other currencies are in the form of gold and silver certificates, police said.

Anyone with information about the stolen currency or believes it is their property can call the Wilshire Area burglary Detective Paul Quan at (213) 922-8251 or (213) 922-8205.