Sheriff’s items stolen, recovered
The deputy sheriff's gun, ID and uniform had been taken from the trunk of her car
A deputy sheriff discovered yesterday her car had been broken into and her service revolver, uniform top and identification card taken, nine days after a Honolulu police officer had a gun, badge and uniform stolen from his car.
While the Department of Public Safety held a news conference to announce the theft, a call came in reporting that the deputy sheriff's 9-mm handgun, shirt and ID card had been recovered at 3 p.m.
Jim Propotnick, Public Safety deputy director of law enforcement, received a phone call during the news conference and informed Public Safety Interim Director Frank Lopez, as he was answering questions from reporters, that all the items had been recovered from a confidential source.
The theft occurred at about 3 a.m., Propotnick said later, but would not go into further detail.
The deputy sheriff, who lives in the Salt Lake area, discovered the break-in of her car about 6:45 a.m. yesterday as she was about to leave for work. The thief or thieves broke the car door and got through the back seat into the locked trunk where the items were stowed inside a bag, Propotnick said.
"The fact that they went into the trunk makes one wonder whether or not they were targeted, but we won't know until we have the thief or thieves in custody," Lopez said.
Lopez said the department is conducting an administrative investigation of the incident to determine if the deputy sheriff, who has been with the department for four years, broke any rules, regulations or standards of conduct.
The officer remains on the job at a courthouse cellblock, Lopez said.
Lopez noted that if, hypothetically, a deputy sheriff had used the trunk of his or her car as a storage for his or her service revolver and uniform, it would be a violation of department policies and procedures.
A uniform and gun should be stored at all times either in a locker at work or at home, but there might be certain circumstances that would allow them to be kept elsewhere, Propotnick said.
Police are investigating the theft, with the help of Public Safety's fugitive investigation team. A surveillance video at the apartment building garage will also be reviewed.
This is the first time in their recollection that such a theft has occurred, Lopez said.
He said it could be coincidence that the theft occurred so close to the police incident.
On April 19 an off-duty police officer left his personal car on an Ewa roadside after he ran out of gas. When he returned, the car had been broken into, and his gun, utility belt, badge, uniform and ammunition had been stolen. Police recovered the gun, badge, utility belt and radio. Police did not open an internal-affairs investigation into the incident, and the officer was not penalized.