Typically, law enforcement and pawn shops work cooperatively to identify and hold stolen property so it can be returned to a victim/owner. If law enforcement identifies stolen property in the possession of a pawn shop, law enforcement will either ask the pawn shop to hold the property, or seize and hold the property as evidence.
Once the property is no longer required as evidence, a victim/owner can buy the property back from the pawn shop at the pawned price, or join the pawn shop in a request to have the defendant pay the pawn price as restitution. There is no guarantee that a defendant will have the ability to pay restitution. A victim/owner may have to privately sue the defendant to recover his loss. In the alternative, pawn shops will occasionally take the loss and the property can be returned to a victim/owner when the property is no longer required as evidence.