Post by Critique on Jan 5, 2007 18:36:21 GMT -5
December 7, 2006
BY AMBER HUNT and BEN SCHMITT
For the third time in a week -- and the fifth time in recent months -- an area law-enforcement officer's weapon landed in the hand of a thief Wednesday, prompting a hunt not only for the pincher but also for the gun.
Late Wednesday, Detroit police announced they had arrested the suspect without incident and also recovered the gun.
From a semi-automatic rifle to a submachine gun to a Glock pistol and others, weapons belonging to officers from West Bloomfield, Monroe County, Wayne County and Detroit have been stolen -- far more than usual in such a short span, according to one police lieutenant.
"In my 30 years here, we'd had one pistol stolen before," said Lt. Carl Fuhs of the West Bloomfield Township Police Department, which employs an officer whose 9mm submachine gun was stolen from his department-issued SUV as he attended a Tigers game in downtown Detroit. The gun still is missing.
The most recent theft occurred Wednesday during a daring escape by a prisoner. Police say Deandre Riley, 23, of Detroit wrestled a Glock from an officer as Riley was being admitted to Detroit Receiving Hospital after complaining he didn't feel well.
After Riley stole the gun, police said, he hijacked an ambulance -- with a patient, a medic and an EMT student in the back -- and drove away. He ditched the ambulance in Midtown after the student jumped out the back and the medic told Riley the vehicle was being tracked.
Late Wednesday, police found Riley walking near Fenkell and Dexter on Detroit's west side after a getting a tip, police said. The theft came a day after an off-duty Detroit officer's service weapon was stolen during a fight at an east-side pizzeria. In that case, the gun was recovered and three suspects were arrested.
Last week, a Wayne County sheriff's deputy reported his Colt M4 Carbine assault rifle missing from his undercover patrol vehicle, parked at his Northville home. The rifle hasn't been found.
And in June, a .40-caliber UMP submachine gun was stolen from the unlocked patrol vehicle of a Monroe County sheriff's deputy. The weapon was found a few days later in a pond.
Dr. Laurence Miller, a clinical forensic and police psychologist in Boca Raton, Fla., said losing a weapon has a "profound effect" on officers.
"For a police officer, a gun is a symbolic representation of their role as protectors of society," Miller said, adding, "It's an emasculating experience" to lose a weapon, regardless of the officer's gender.
Paul Stewart, vice president of the Detroit Police Officers Association, said: "It's devastating. Any time you lose your gun, the department is going to discipline."
Former Detroit Officer John Bennett, author of the city watchdog Web site www.detroituncovered.com, said an officer who loses a weapon is subject to embarrassment and humiliation. "The razzing you take is horrible," he said.
If the weapon is used to hurt someone else, it's horrifying, he added.
"That should never happen," said Bennett, who was a cop for seven years. "You go through training to make sure nobody can ever take your gun from you."
Detroit Police Chief Ella Bully-Cummings was not available to talk about Wednesday's incident, including what training is provided to officers and what disciplinary measures an officer who loses his or her weapon could face.
All departments have guidelines for securing weapons, Fuhs said, though West Bloomfield doesn't have a specific rule stating weapons shouldn't be left in patrol vehicles.
"Still," he said, "you're responsible for the weapon once it's given to you."
Fuhs said that the officer in his department whose gun was stolen during the baseball game was disciplined after an internal investigation. He declined to reveal the measures taken.
In Wednesday's case, police said, Riley was arrested at 1 a.m., accused of driving a stolen vehicle. He was taken to the Western District lockup on 7 Mile at Woodward. About 6 a.m., after Riley complained of feeling ill, he was taken to Detroit Receiving, where he wrested the Glock from officers as they tried to handcuff him to a bed during admission, said Sgt. Eren Stephens, a police spokeswoman.
Riley then fled, pointing the gun at the ambulance driver and ordering him out of the vehicle, said Michael Kowalsky, operations manager for ambulance company Medic One.
As Riley sped down St. Antoine at 60 m.p.h., the EMT student in the rear of the ambulance tucked and rolled out the back, Kowalsky said. She suffered only scrapes to her hands.
Another Medic One worker stayed with the patient, Kowalsky said. She told Riley the ambulance was equipped with a tracking device, prompting him to pull over at Third Avenue and Canfield, near Wayne State University.
Riley fled on foot, Stephens said.
He has previous convictions of carrying a concealed weapon and cocaine possession, according to the Michigan Department of Corrections.
Allina Tipton, Riley's grandmother, said he suffers from schizophrenia and has not been taking his medication.
www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061207/NEWS01/612070356
BY AMBER HUNT and BEN SCHMITT
For the third time in a week -- and the fifth time in recent months -- an area law-enforcement officer's weapon landed in the hand of a thief Wednesday, prompting a hunt not only for the pincher but also for the gun.
Late Wednesday, Detroit police announced they had arrested the suspect without incident and also recovered the gun.
From a semi-automatic rifle to a submachine gun to a Glock pistol and others, weapons belonging to officers from West Bloomfield, Monroe County, Wayne County and Detroit have been stolen -- far more than usual in such a short span, according to one police lieutenant.
"In my 30 years here, we'd had one pistol stolen before," said Lt. Carl Fuhs of the West Bloomfield Township Police Department, which employs an officer whose 9mm submachine gun was stolen from his department-issued SUV as he attended a Tigers game in downtown Detroit. The gun still is missing.
The most recent theft occurred Wednesday during a daring escape by a prisoner. Police say Deandre Riley, 23, of Detroit wrestled a Glock from an officer as Riley was being admitted to Detroit Receiving Hospital after complaining he didn't feel well.
After Riley stole the gun, police said, he hijacked an ambulance -- with a patient, a medic and an EMT student in the back -- and drove away. He ditched the ambulance in Midtown after the student jumped out the back and the medic told Riley the vehicle was being tracked.
Late Wednesday, police found Riley walking near Fenkell and Dexter on Detroit's west side after a getting a tip, police said. The theft came a day after an off-duty Detroit officer's service weapon was stolen during a fight at an east-side pizzeria. In that case, the gun was recovered and three suspects were arrested.
Last week, a Wayne County sheriff's deputy reported his Colt M4 Carbine assault rifle missing from his undercover patrol vehicle, parked at his Northville home. The rifle hasn't been found.
And in June, a .40-caliber UMP submachine gun was stolen from the unlocked patrol vehicle of a Monroe County sheriff's deputy. The weapon was found a few days later in a pond.
Dr. Laurence Miller, a clinical forensic and police psychologist in Boca Raton, Fla., said losing a weapon has a "profound effect" on officers.
"For a police officer, a gun is a symbolic representation of their role as protectors of society," Miller said, adding, "It's an emasculating experience" to lose a weapon, regardless of the officer's gender.
Paul Stewart, vice president of the Detroit Police Officers Association, said: "It's devastating. Any time you lose your gun, the department is going to discipline."
Former Detroit Officer John Bennett, author of the city watchdog Web site www.detroituncovered.com, said an officer who loses a weapon is subject to embarrassment and humiliation. "The razzing you take is horrible," he said.
If the weapon is used to hurt someone else, it's horrifying, he added.
"That should never happen," said Bennett, who was a cop for seven years. "You go through training to make sure nobody can ever take your gun from you."
Detroit Police Chief Ella Bully-Cummings was not available to talk about Wednesday's incident, including what training is provided to officers and what disciplinary measures an officer who loses his or her weapon could face.
All departments have guidelines for securing weapons, Fuhs said, though West Bloomfield doesn't have a specific rule stating weapons shouldn't be left in patrol vehicles.
"Still," he said, "you're responsible for the weapon once it's given to you."
Fuhs said that the officer in his department whose gun was stolen during the baseball game was disciplined after an internal investigation. He declined to reveal the measures taken.
In Wednesday's case, police said, Riley was arrested at 1 a.m., accused of driving a stolen vehicle. He was taken to the Western District lockup on 7 Mile at Woodward. About 6 a.m., after Riley complained of feeling ill, he was taken to Detroit Receiving, where he wrested the Glock from officers as they tried to handcuff him to a bed during admission, said Sgt. Eren Stephens, a police spokeswoman.
Riley then fled, pointing the gun at the ambulance driver and ordering him out of the vehicle, said Michael Kowalsky, operations manager for ambulance company Medic One.
As Riley sped down St. Antoine at 60 m.p.h., the EMT student in the rear of the ambulance tucked and rolled out the back, Kowalsky said. She suffered only scrapes to her hands.
Another Medic One worker stayed with the patient, Kowalsky said. She told Riley the ambulance was equipped with a tracking device, prompting him to pull over at Third Avenue and Canfield, near Wayne State University.
Riley fled on foot, Stephens said.
He has previous convictions of carrying a concealed weapon and cocaine possession, according to the Michigan Department of Corrections.
Allina Tipton, Riley's grandmother, said he suffers from schizophrenia and has not been taking his medication.
www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061207/NEWS01/612070356