It’s happened again: Salinas PD officer’s gun stolen

UPDATE 5/5/2016 1:15 PM: Salinas Police shared more details about the recent string of stolen officers’ weapons.

Salinas Police said in the latest case, the officer’s gun was stolen at Salinas Christian School. Police said there is surveillance footage and they’re reviewing the video. Investigators are also following up on a few leads .

So far none of the guns have been recovered.

UPDATE: 5/2/2016 6:15 PM: It has happened again. Another Salinas police officer’s weapon is in the hands of a thief. The latest incident happened last Thursday, when police say an officer’s personal car was broken into at a school in North Salinas. The thief or thieves stole the officer’s personal gun, badge and identification. This is the third incident in five weeks.

In late March, Salinas Police Chief Kelly McMillin’s unmarked police car was broken into in unincorporated Monterey County. His assault rifle, bulletproof vest and ammunition were all stolen from the trunk. Weeks later, another officer fell victim after he left his car unlocked in the Las Palmas area. His gun and uniform were stolen. Thursday marked the latest incident.

“Their personal vehicle was broken into,” Deputy Chief Dave Shaw said. “Their off-duty weapon, badge, ID cards as well as other personal information was stolen from the vehicle.”

Police say the officer thought the car was locked when it was parked outside of a school in North Salinas. Shaw calls the thefts concerning because they don’t know what the thief or thieves will do with the badges or uniforms.

“We don’t know what the intent is,” Shaw said. “Are they going to just trash those just to get rid of them? Are they going to try to use them somehow to impersonate an officer? We don’t know at this point.”

Authorities say there are two investigations underway right now. The first is the criminal aspect – who did it? The second – was department policy violated? The Salinas city manager and city attorney are looking at bringing in outside help to determine that.

“The city manager and I have discussed bringing in an outside investigator to investigate all three incidents, beginning with the police chief and the other officers’ weapon,” said Chris Callihan, Salinas city attorney. “This is the third incident. So we may bring someone from the outside to investigate all three of them at the same time for policy violation purposes.”

The Salinas Police Department is offering refresher courses to make sure everyone is well aware and on top of the policies and procedures regarding firearms.

While Salinas police comb through evidence in this latest case, the Monterey County Sheriff’s Office is making headway in finding out who is responsible for the rash of thefts that include the first two stolen guns.

“This all stemmed from a rash of thefts out in the Toro Park area, that’s expanded over into the Monterey side, the Las Palmas area, they’re all interconnected to one degree or another,” Cmdr. John Thornburg said. “Very active ongoing investigations. We’ve made 13 arrests in those cases and we’re not done.”

Joseph Twiford Sutton was arrested in connection to McMillin’s case, however other suspects are still on the loose. Neither of the guns in the first two cases have been recovered.

UPDATE: May 2, 2016 12:45 PM: Salinas Deputy Chief of Police Dave Shaw said the stolen gun is the officer’s personal weapon, and is not a city-issued gun.

UPDATE: May 2, 2016 11:58 AM: Salinas City Attorney Christopher Callihan tells KION that the officer was dropping off a child at a school in Salinas and left the car unlocked. A thief, or thieves, took the officer’s gun, badge and ID. Callihan says he does not think the three incidents are related, but is considering bringing in a third party to investigate possible policy violations in all three incidents.

ORIGINAL STORY: For the third time in five weeks, a Salinas police officer has lost a gun to a vehicle break-in and theft.

According to sources, someone stole the officer’s gun and badge from a parked vehicle in Salinas last Thursday.

This is the third time a weapon has been stolen from a Salinas police officer’s vehicle in the past few weeks.

On March 26, thieves took a semi-automatic rifle, bullet-proof vest and ammunition from a car belonging to Salinas Police Chief Kelly McMillin.

In a second case, a Salinas officer’s handgun, badge and uniform were stolen from his unlocked car in the Las Palmas area.

KION is following this story and will have updates throughout the day.