Be on the look out
In The City (My The City), a local man had $34,750 worth of guns stolen:
A Maryville gun collector came home Wednesday to find someone had burglarized his residence and stolen about 100 guns which were valued at $34,750.
William Ellis Spurgeon, 4760 Sevierville Road, had been away from home since Sunday. When he returned at 11:08 a.m. Wednesday he noticed a sliding glass door located on the side of the house standing open, according to the police report.
After closer inspection, he noticed pry marks around the lock area of the door.
He immediately went to check on his gun collection, which was located in a closet in the basement of the house, which is located beside Spurgeon Greenhouses. He found about 100 guns missing, along with several boxes of ammunition.
A list of items the burglars made off with:
Guns stolen included Colt .45-caliber WWII commemoratives, Colt Detective Series, Cobra Action Scout .22-caliber, Colt Gold Spike, four .22-caliber derringers, Smith and Wesson .44-caliber Magnums with 6- and 8-inch barrels, six Smith and Wesson .351-caliber Magnums, two nickel-plated .44-caliber Magnum pistols with 6-inch barrels, Smith and Wesson .357-caliber Magnum Texas Ranger, bone handled pistols, Rouger .44-caliber Magnum Red Hawk Super, two .44-caliber nickel-plated black powder guns, a Winchester 30-30 John Wayne Rifle and a 30-30 President Roosevelt Rifle.
October 31st, 2008 at 9:02 am
I suppose we will need to be watching the auction sites now. I can’t imagine why a criminal would want such easily traced weapons for a crime. Not.
Most likely an inside job.
October 31st, 2008 at 9:37 am
So…if he had that much invested in guns, couldn’t have dropped a couple of grand on a safe?
Or did he and the police decide not to tell the newsies whether or not he had a safe?
October 31st, 2008 at 9:40 am
Jesus.
I speak fluent gun-ese, including the obscure dialects of Colt and S&W commemoratives, and I could only parse about 75% of that list, it was so mangled…
October 31st, 2008 at 11:05 am
“So…if he had that much invested in guns, couldn’t have dropped a couple of grand on a safe?”
I’m guessing he’s realizing that about now. It’s a shame.
October 31st, 2008 at 8:53 pm
in thirty years as a pawnbroker, not once was i aware of a theft of this magnitude being a random crime…as a commenter above opined, this was almost certainly a relative, acquaintance, employee, or someone else who knew exactly what was there and where to find it…and not to cast doubt on the victim, but of course it’s possible he himself was involved.
October 31st, 2008 at 8:53 pm
in thirty years as a pawnbroker, not once was i aware of a theft of this magnitude being a random crime…as a commenter above opined, this was almost certainly a relative, acquaintance, employee, or someone else who knew exactly what was there and where to find it…and not to cast doubt on the victim, but of course it’s possible he himself was involved.
October 31st, 2008 at 10:01 pm
btw, whereas most articles reported stolen are eventually purged from ncic, firearms never are…if a thief is dumb enough to try taking one to a licensed pawnbroker, he’s dead meat; photo id, thumbprint, and a sworn statement of ownership are required that make him guilty of a felony in addition to the original theft charges.
and crooks “sophisticated” enough to target such specific high-end booty also won’t likely leave the electronic trail required on websell sites…most are stolen to order for private “collectors”, and if sold, as bad as i hate to say it, are likely to be run through a gun show; easy to remain anonymous, and there’s a guaranteed audience of eager buyers with a nice roll of cash in pocket…gun show buyers should always require photo id and signed receipts (xavier has an excellent sample receipt available to print out), because even years later if a serial number check is run, they can lose their gun and even face charges without documentation.
October 31st, 2008 at 10:01 pm
btw, whereas most articles reported stolen are eventually purged from ncic, firearms never are…if a thief is dumb enough to try taking one to a licensed pawnbroker, he’s dead meat; photo id, thumbprint, and a sworn statement of ownership are required that make him guilty of a felony in addition to the original theft charges.
and crooks “sophisticated” enough to target such specific high-end booty also won’t likely leave the electronic trail required on websell sites…most are stolen to order for private “collectors”, and if sold, as bad as i hate to say it, are likely to be run through a gun show; easy to remain anonymous, and there’s a guaranteed audience of eager buyers with a nice roll of cash in pocket…gun show buyers should always require photo id and signed receipts (xavier has an excellent sample receipt available to print out), because even years later if a serial number check is run, they can lose their gun and even face charges without documentation.