"Machine gun" stolen from Oregon police - Oops!

Oatka

New member
If it had been a Class III owner, you can bet he'd be hung for "unsafe" storage, but then some are more equal . . .
http://www.oregonlive.com/news/oregonian/index.ssf?/news/oregonian/00/04/lc_62guns14.frame

Machine gun from burglary recovered

Police are seeking other missing handguns and suspects, and two men face charges

Friday, April 14, 2000

By Stuart Tomlinson of The Oregonian staff

GRESHAM --Although he might be embarrassed by the incident, a Gresham policeman who had four guns, including a machine gun, stolen from his home Wednesday will not face any disciplinary action.

"It's each officer's responsibility to ensure the weapons are safe and secure," said Lt. Carla Piluso, spokeswoman for the Gresham Police Department. "But as in any case that involves officers and firearms, we will review this case and may make some recommendations. At this stage, there was no negligence on the officer's part."

Piluso said the officer, whom she would not identify, left his Gresham home about 8 a.m. Wednesday for a meeting at police headquarters. He left his marked police car in front of his house. Piluso could not say whether the burglars were looking specifically for the weapons or had stumbled on them during a routine burglary.

The officer is one of five members of the department's Special Emergency Response Team. Team members are allowed to keep their weapons and police cars at home so they can respond immediately when they are called.

When the officer returned two hours later, he discovered that two semi-automatic handguns, a revolver, an MP-5 machine gun and other items had been taken from his house. According to manufacturer Heckler and Koch, the German-made MP-5 can fire 800 rounds a minute and is the basic weapon used by the FBI hostage rescue team and counterterrorist agencies worldwide.

Police said Wednesday afternoon they had suspects in the case and might have identified their car. Acting on a telephone tip, Gresham detectives staked out a home at Southeast 130th Avenue and Division Street where they thought the suspects were staying.

Suspects pursued

Here's how police said the rest of the evening unfolded:
At 9 p.m., police saw the car at Southeast 122nd Avenue and Division Street. Gresham and Portland police and Multnomah County sheriff's deputies attempted to stop the car, but the driver, later identified as Michael A. Kline, 28, sped off.

Kline jumped from the car near Southeast 157th and Division, then was tracked down by a Gresham officer and his police dog. Police recovered the MP-5 machine gun but not the remaining three guns.

A short time later, a second suspect in the burglary, Keith D. Gleave, 25, was spotted driving a Volkswagen Jetta that had been reported stolen. At 10:40 p.m., the car spun out while crossing light-rail tracks at Southeast 142nd and Burnside Street.

Gleave and two passengers ran from the car. A handgun not stolen from the officer's house was recovered near the car.

About an hour later, a Portland officer and police dog caught Gleave nearby.
Both Gleave and Kline, who have no permanent addresses, will be arraigned today. Police are searching for the two men who ran away from Gleave's car.

Gleave faces one charge of second-degree possession of a controlled substance and unauthorized use of a motor vehicle.

Kline faces two counts each of unlawful possession of a machine gun, being an ex-convict in possession of a firearm and theft by receiving. He also is being held on an outstanding warrant charging third-degree theft.

Both men are being held in the Justice Center Jail. Kline's bail was set at $411,000; Gleave's bail at $10,000.

You can reach Stuart Tomlinson at 503-294-5940 or by e-mail at stuarttomlinson@news.oregonian.com .

Copyright 2000 Oregon Live. All rights reserved.



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The New World Order has a Third Reich odor.
 
I suggest we contact Mr. Tomlinson and ask him look into what would happen to a Class III owner who had an SMG stolen from his house--would there be "no negligence" found in the official investigation? Get real.
 
You would think that they would issue a safe with the automatic if they had any real concern about criminals obtaining them.
I am more concerned about the guy who stole the Jetta. I hope he never walks the streets again, but they will probably just slap his wrist and let him go if they ver do catch him. In fact, this truely infuriates me. The Jetta is a bigger loss than the stupid guns.

[This message has been edited by Herodotus (edited April 15, 2000).]
 
There have been thefts of full auto guns in Switzerland, after the
requirement of a safe was put into the firearms concordate
regulations. As long as the safe is of reasonable build (just look at http://www.tresore.ch ), courts don't judge the owner of negligence as
long as the thief had to force open the safe with brutal means like an
acetylene torch (useless against the newest generation of safes) or a
hefty diamond drill (makes so much noise here that the other
inhabitants will call the police real quick).
 
I wont get my panties in a bunch, because I know that these were "smart-guns". And they had trigger locks on them as well.

Oh, I'm feeling a lot better knowing that if these things are stolen, even from the police, I'm safe...

What a crock of all butter.

Best Regards,
Don.

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The most foolish mistake we could make would be to allow the subjected people to carry arms; history shows that all conquerers who have allowed their subjected people to carry arms have prepared their own fall.
Adolf Hitler
 
Well, am I gonna have to be the first to get with Mr. Tomlinson to explain to him the difference between an SMG and a full "machine gun," or has one of the rest of you gotten with him about it?


Emailing now....

L.P.
 
Kind of sounds like th FBI SWAT team that had is Suburban liberated from their posession while at a hotel somewhere. Needless to say it still contained their equipment. I dont remember any mention of agents being fired or disciplined.

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"Liberty is never unalienable; it must be redeemed regularly with the blood of patriots or it always vanishes."
-R.A. Heinlein
 
MY LORD!!!! WHAT ABOUT THE CHILDREN????? WE NEED TO STOP THIS INSANITY TO PREVENT GUNS FROM GETTING INTO THE HANDS OF CRIMINALS AND CHILDREN!!!!
 
About 8-10 years ago I was preparing to run a qualification on one of the military ranges in the PDX area. On the range I was preparing to use there was an MP5 lying unattended on a table. After waiting several minutes to see if anyone was anywhere around, I designated a person to secure the weapon and went in search of its owners. I finally found some Portland Police officers BSing in a range shack some 100 yards away and completely out of sight who admitted it was theirs. I often thought I should have tossed it in my vehicle and let them sweat for a few days before returning it.

No damn excuse.
 
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