you get the cops. Go to the cops with proof of ownership, and proof that they have possession of your property, and their information. They are guilty of conversion. Have the cops go with you to get the gear, and have them charged with possession of stolen property. At this point, they can be sued- before you move on this- you need to find out how much they have in assets. Tip: more than likely, they are NOT an LLC, so they are not protected as a business entity, so their personal property falls under "assets".
CONVERSION - Torts. The unlawful turning or applying the personal goods of another to the use of the taker, or of some other person than the owner; or the unlawful destroying or altering their nature.
When a party takes away or wrongfully assumes the right to goods which belong to another, it will in general be sufficient evidence of a conversion but when the original taking was lawful, as when the party found the goods, and the detention only is illegal, it is absolutely necessary to make a demand of the goods, and there must be a refusal to deliver them before the conversion will be complete. The refusal by a servant to deliver the goods entrusted to him by his master is not evidence of a conversion by his master.
The tortious taking of property is, of itself, a conversion and any intermeddling with it, or any exercise of dominion over it, subversive of the dominion of the owner or the nature of the bailment if it be bailed, is evidence of a conversion.
