OKC Burglary Victim Finds Stolen Property For Sale Online

An Oklahoma City burglary suspect is in jail after a victim found his stolen property for sale online. Matthew Ober, 36, was arrested Sunday at his mobile home on S Rockwell Avenue.

Police say the victim did the right thing by contacting them before meeting up with the suspect to recover his stolen property.

The victim lost more than $10,000 in tools and equipment when his work van was stolen from his northwest Oklahoma City home in June.

“The van had been recovered but the tools were still missing,” Msgt. Gary Knight with Oklahoma City police said.

The victim told police he had a feeling his items would eventually show up for sale online. He started scouring websites until he got a hit on the Facebook marketplace. 

“He found the items that were for sale, actually arranged for a meeting with the seller, but then the seller backed out saying he had to go to the hospital," Knight said.

Instead of waiting for the next opportunity to meet, police looked up the home address of the seller, Matthew Ober. When they arrived, officers found 30 of the victim's stolen tools, worth about $1,600, as well as a stolen car parked outside.

Officers also discovered Ober actually did need to go to the hospital, because he had been bitten by a police K9 while trying to steal a motorcycle two weeks ago. Police transported him to get treated before taking him to jail.

Police say they would not normally encourage a victim to seek out a suspect, but in this case he did the right thing.

“He handled it the best way possible,” Knight said. “He got us as much information as he could on the suspect, and then he had us go with him to meet the person.”

Ober is now facing charges for theft, and he is also being held on two outstanding felony warrants for burglary and unauthorized use of a vehicle.