Yet another WWBT do?

I don't know how it is in your state but in Illinois you can contact the police about the matter, report it stolen, get your roofing nail gun back and not pursue charges. You might want to contact his probation officer about it and speak with him and find out if there will be any consequences for him if you should contact the police. I run into alot of people that just want their stuff back and don't want to be bothered with going to court.

I think you need to do something. A nail gun today and who knows what he will try to pawn tomorrow. We see this all the time with people who have pending court cases. They try to rip off as many people as possible and pawn all of the stuff so when they walk into court they have the money they need for fines and court costs.

Good luck to you on this one.

Give him 24 hours to get the nail gun back or you go the cops.  Either way you need to kick him out.  He cannot be trusted any longer living under your roof.  Your first responsibility is to your wife and kids, not your brother-in-law.

Oh, man.  That sucks big time.  It feels to me like this is something you need to nip in the bud ASAP.  Nail gun today, expensive bicycle tomorrow.  Like a lot of people in similar situations, he'll keep ripping you off as long as he thinks he can.  Best of luck to you.  I hope it all works out OK. 

Tom 

get the nail gun back, kick him out, change all the locks on your doors/garage/vehicle/whatever he had access to.  Lock up credit cards..... 

Gotta wonder what he wanted the money for, though.  Don't want a person under the influence in your house with your wife and kid.   

They don't charge rent in jail.  There are plenty of shelters he can go to.  I know I sound like a *****, but.....  gotta protect me and mine first.

I am with Lucy!

What did he do time for before?  If it was thieving....send him to see the man.

Can you clarify something?  When you say it is your bro-in-law do you mean it is your wife's brother?  Maybe that's obvious to everyone else but it would affect how I handled it if it was her brother or my BIL through a sibling of my own.

Thanks for the comments everyone. To answer a few questions:

Tom, thankfully I don't have an expensive bike. But I'm still not willing to lose it.

Now that I think about it, I can't really trust him to use my lawn equipment, wash the cars or clean the garage without worrying what will dissapear next. My wife and I are taking inventory tonight when I get home.

Now I hear his probation officer is looking for him, since he moved and changed jobs without telling him. Both violations, so I might not have the oppourtunity to do anything if his PO finds him first.

And yes the previous offenses were home invation and dealing in stolen property. Hmmm....Seems to be a pattern.

Now I'm wondering, why did he go after the cheap nail gun, instead of the $300 framing gun I have? He's not too bright.

Sorry it is my wife's youngest brother. The older two I would take a bullet for.

It's helping no one to give him more chances.  You gave him a chance by letting him live with you and he screwed that trust.  It will happen again.  If you don't have him arrested, you should at least make him move out.

I'd be prepared to stand my ground if it came to it and do what most people are suggesting here but I'd put it in their family's hands first.  Talk to wife, talk to his brothers and give them the opportunity to be involved or at least voice their opinions.  No matter how "right" you are now you don't want to be the one forever known for being responsible for sending their brother back to jail.  It's a way to get done what you need to get done but letting them be involved in it.  Be the firm presence in the background.  Then, if they drop the ball or won't do it then you do what must be done.

These are actually some of the steps I'm taking. My wife is completely behind me. I know some family members are going to give me that small laugh and "I told you so" look. I also now remember he went to live with another brother when he was a teenager and after he ran away said brother couldn't find his new chainsaw.

I know he is working, but don't know what he's spending all his money on. Either way, I should have my nail gun back by tomorrow evening and probably won't be seeing him for awhile. Now it will be time to change the locks....again.

Yeah, serveillance is tight around my house right now. I wish he hadn't already pawned his 60G video iPod, I would have taken that as an even trade. But that was probably stolen too.

Already taken care of. My wife doesn't like a lot of jewelry so she actually had anything of serious value with her in Disney. She almost never takes off her rings or necklace. And if he were to even think about touching her diamond tennis bracelet (new baby gift from me and my son) you would have read: So I'm taking the day off to go to my BIL's funeral, instead of reading this thread.

So while I'm here:

Minor Update: My wife never said a thing to him yesterday while he was there. Then at 5:15 (I'm a mile from the house) he says he's going out and will be back soon. We have yet to hear from him. So last night was anti-climatic for me. I even printed up a flyer to put on our door for when he got back. It had 2 pictures of the case my nail gun goes in (opened and closed), with statements like:

Deal for one day only!!!
You can fill this case for the price of $31.25 at Value Pawn!
Or I can fill it with the filling of one police report!!
Act now before this deal is gone for good!!!

Heh.

I'm gonna go ahead and guess that he doesn't have $31.25. Maybe you could loan it to him?

Yeah, sure. I did a little research over lunch and found out he got fired this past Friday. About 3 hours after he pawned my nail gun. Finally got in touch with him and he says he gets paid tomorrow. So I'm giving him until noon to deliver. At 12:01pm I turn off my cell and begin filling out police report. I found out I can file a report and not have to go through a court process. Oh and his stuff in out front right now. Anyone wear 32" waist?

Even money he either doesn't show, or doesn't show up with the money and asks for another chance.