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Haverstraw police lose track of man's guns at station
By RON X. GUMUCIO
Missing: A submachine gun, shotgun and hunting rifles.
Where: Haverstraw police headquarters.
How: Police say the guns were brought in for safekeeping by a woman who was estranged from her husband, and they were claimed by someone who said he was the owner's father or brother. No paperwork has been found.
(Original publication: April 22, 2006)
HAVERSTRAW — A Thiells man says the Haverstraw Police Department lost his submachine gun and other weapons after his wife brought them to the station in 2004 for safekeeping while the couple were estranged.
Richard Fenner said he was told by Detective Henry Soto on Thursday that the police didn't have his five guns and that a person claiming to be either his father or brother had picked them up.
Fenner said no one in his family had retrieved the guns, but if someone did the police should have a record of it.
"I haven't seen my father since I was 3, and my brother lives way out near the New Jersey-Pennsylvania border," Fenner said.
Police asked Fenner to fill out a lost or stolen property form while he was at the station. A copy will be made available to him after Chief Charles Miller reviews it, Fenner said.
"What bothers me so much is, how could somebody lose something that is in police custody?" Fenner said. "If it was a DVD player, I wouldn't care. I'd go buy another one. But you're talking about weapons. Something that could hurt another individual. How could you dismiss it? Guns just don't disappear. They don't just walk off."
Miller said the firearms were not in the station and the department was checking with the sergeant who took in the firearms about what he had done with them. Miller said it could take a few days because the sergeant, whom he would not identify, had since retired.
"At one point in time, we were in possession of them," Miller said. "For how long, I can't tell you, or how they came to us and went to someone else. We're looking into the matter as thoroughly as possible and trying to find out what happened."
Fenner said his wife brought the guns to headquarters in November 2004, during a period when he and his wife were separated and she didn't want them in the house. Fenner said the guns had not been used in a criminal offense or to threaten his wife. They since have reconciled.
"The weapons were voluntarily surrendered by my wife and held in the property room, and not the evidence room, at the station," Fenner said.
Miller said weapons brought to the station for safekeeping are normally stored in a locker, and a receipt is given to the person who drops them off.
The person who picks up a weapon must be the owner or have written permission from the owner, Miller said.
Fenner, who works in construction, said he had owned the weapons — a Kel-Tec SUB-2000, a shotgun and hunting rifles — about four years and used them for hunting and target practice. The value of the weapons, with their sights and cases, was between $2,800 and $3,500, he said.
Miller said he was concerned about any type of gun missing from police headquarters.
"It's pressing either way, whether we misplaced a shotgun or not," Miller said. "The fact that he said it's a submachine gun makes it even more pressing."
Fenner's lawyer, Bob Conklin, said he wanted the Police Department to compensate Fenner for his firearms.
"I'd like to think that this was a good-faith mistake," Conklin said. "I just can't believe that the Police Department, or anyone on the force, would have taken them. That's just not in the realm of possibility."
Fenner said that if the police handed the guns over to someone, he should have been notified.
"I want to get my guns back, but I want to get to the bottom of this," Fenner said. "It's not OK with me that the guns just disappeared. What happens if those guns ... hypothetically are used in a crime? I asked the cop and he said I would be exempt. But they have no proof that they were signed out."
http://www.thejournalnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060422/NEWS03/604220329/1019
By RON X. GUMUCIO
Missing: A submachine gun, shotgun and hunting rifles.
Where: Haverstraw police headquarters.
How: Police say the guns were brought in for safekeeping by a woman who was estranged from her husband, and they were claimed by someone who said he was the owner's father or brother. No paperwork has been found.
(Original publication: April 22, 2006)
HAVERSTRAW — A Thiells man says the Haverstraw Police Department lost his submachine gun and other weapons after his wife brought them to the station in 2004 for safekeeping while the couple were estranged.
Richard Fenner said he was told by Detective Henry Soto on Thursday that the police didn't have his five guns and that a person claiming to be either his father or brother had picked them up.
Fenner said no one in his family had retrieved the guns, but if someone did the police should have a record of it.
"I haven't seen my father since I was 3, and my brother lives way out near the New Jersey-Pennsylvania border," Fenner said.
Police asked Fenner to fill out a lost or stolen property form while he was at the station. A copy will be made available to him after Chief Charles Miller reviews it, Fenner said.
"What bothers me so much is, how could somebody lose something that is in police custody?" Fenner said. "If it was a DVD player, I wouldn't care. I'd go buy another one. But you're talking about weapons. Something that could hurt another individual. How could you dismiss it? Guns just don't disappear. They don't just walk off."
Miller said the firearms were not in the station and the department was checking with the sergeant who took in the firearms about what he had done with them. Miller said it could take a few days because the sergeant, whom he would not identify, had since retired.
"At one point in time, we were in possession of them," Miller said. "For how long, I can't tell you, or how they came to us and went to someone else. We're looking into the matter as thoroughly as possible and trying to find out what happened."
Fenner said his wife brought the guns to headquarters in November 2004, during a period when he and his wife were separated and she didn't want them in the house. Fenner said the guns had not been used in a criminal offense or to threaten his wife. They since have reconciled.
"The weapons were voluntarily surrendered by my wife and held in the property room, and not the evidence room, at the station," Fenner said.
Miller said weapons brought to the station for safekeeping are normally stored in a locker, and a receipt is given to the person who drops them off.
The person who picks up a weapon must be the owner or have written permission from the owner, Miller said.
Fenner, who works in construction, said he had owned the weapons — a Kel-Tec SUB-2000, a shotgun and hunting rifles — about four years and used them for hunting and target practice. The value of the weapons, with their sights and cases, was between $2,800 and $3,500, he said.
Miller said he was concerned about any type of gun missing from police headquarters.
"It's pressing either way, whether we misplaced a shotgun or not," Miller said. "The fact that he said it's a submachine gun makes it even more pressing."
Fenner's lawyer, Bob Conklin, said he wanted the Police Department to compensate Fenner for his firearms.
"I'd like to think that this was a good-faith mistake," Conklin said. "I just can't believe that the Police Department, or anyone on the force, would have taken them. That's just not in the realm of possibility."
Fenner said that if the police handed the guns over to someone, he should have been notified.
"I want to get my guns back, but I want to get to the bottom of this," Fenner said. "It's not OK with me that the guns just disappeared. What happens if those guns ... hypothetically are used in a crime? I asked the cop and he said I would be exempt. But they have no proof that they were signed out."
http://www.thejournalnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060422/NEWS03/604220329/1019
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