Gun grabbing: More than 270 firearms stolen in Cape since 2011

Editor's note: This story has been updated to correct an attribution dealing with the prosecuting attorney's role in the Southeast Missourian Sunshine Law request. It has also been edited to clarify information from a report not included in the Sunshine Law response.

Kenneth Michael Cooper said burglars cased his house in the 1900 block of Belleridge Pike in April 2013 in part because he had guns.

Those burglars knew Cooper and his wife would be gone for the weekend and entered his front door to avoid barking beagles at a rear entrance, he said.

They stole eight guns — four shotguns, two rifles, a .38 caliber pistol and a muzzleloader.

He did not think any of the guns were worth that much and were more valuable to him for sentimental value.

“They took the titles to my vehicles,” Cooper said. “These guys were professional thieves. ... They knew I had guns or somebody told them.”

Gun thefts appear to be a significant problem in Cape Girardeau, though numbers for context are difficult to attain.

Cape Girardeau police reported 177 gun thefts from 2011 through April 2016. The most thefts occurred in 2014, with 46.

The department could not release information on every theft because some reports were withheld by the Cape Girardeau County prosecuting attorney’s office, according to St. Adam Glueck. Glueck said some records were closed because of decisions by the Cape Girardeau County prosecuting attorney's office to file for arrest warrants or dismiss cases. Other records were closed because they involved juveniles, Glueck said.

The Southeast Missourian issued an open-records request with the Cape Girardeau Police Department, asking for the number of certain crimes related to gun violence and gun thefts. The department could not provide those numbers, but instead provided hundreds of pages of records of incidents relating to crimes described in the newspaper’s original numbers request. The request was made in April, and that request was fulfilled several months later.

The Southeast Missourian, over several weeks, inputted the incidents into spreadsheets and organized data by the report number used by the FBI to categorize crimes.

The Southeast Missourian also filed a Freedom of Information request for specific data from the FBI seeking numbers of gun thefts by ZIP code, but the FBI could not provide information as to when that request might be fulfilled.

According to the reports shared with the Southeast Missourian from Cape Girardeau police, a total of 278 guns were stolen in that time, with 74 stolen in 2013.

Four or more guns were stolen in 10 instances, four such instances occurring in 2013.

Semi-automatic pistols were the most common guns that were stolen, with .40 and .380 and Glock, Ruger, Smith and Wesson and Hi-Point being the most common calibers and brands.

Shotguns and rifles also were stolen with regularity. Seven assault rifles were reported stolen, including AR-15s and AK-47s.

Public information officer Richard McCall said one of the men who reported multiple assault rifles as stolen described himself as a pathological liar. That description was included in a supplemental report not provided to the Southeast Missourian.

Missouri has supplied its own data about guns used in crimes, unlike neighboring Illinois, according to Federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives public information officer John Hamm.

Straw buyers, who purchase guns from licensed providers and then resell them on the black market, are much less common than stolen guns, Hamm said.

“That’s how criminals are getting their hands on guns,” McCall said of the thefts.

The Southeast Missourian also received incident reports on shots-fired calls from 2011 through April 2016. None of those reports described a gun stolen from Cape Girardeau being used in a Cape Girardeau shots-fired incident.

Guns from Cape Girardeau have turned up in other places. Tyrone Harris Jr., 18 at the time, used a 9 mm Sig Sauer pistol stolen in January 2014 from Cape Girardeau to shoot at a police officer in Ferguson, Missouri, according to Ferguson police.

Harris was critically wounded when officers returned fire, according to police. The theft of that Sig Sauer pistol was not included in incident reports provided to the Southeast Missourian.

Venice, Illinois, police advised Cape Girardeau officers they found a 10 mm Glock handgun belonging to Dustin Thomas Barrows in July 2015, according to one report. The gun originally was stolen Aug. 11, 2013, and Barrows said the gun was not returned.

Perry County sheriff’s deputies recovered a Springfield XD 9 mm handgun after a search warrant was executed at the residence of Antonio Shockley in January 2016. The gun originally was stolen from a Cape Girardeau in December 2013.

A .40-caliber Glock was recovered in an investigation in October 2012 in Blytheville, Arkansas. The gun originally was stolen from a Cape Girardeau residence on July 15, 2011.

Cape Girardeau police have made 26 arrests in firearm-theft cases between 2011 and April 2016. Police recovered 10 firearms that previously had been stolen in that time period. In nearly every case, weapons were recovered as part of a search warrant for an unrelated crime.

Barrows had a Ruger 9 mm returned to him after it was recovered in a narcotics investigation. Police searched the residence of Consentshae C. Parker on Aug. 20, 2013, finding the Ruger and marijuana, according to an incident report. Barrows’ house was broken into Aug. 11, 2013, and a display case he used for his guns was broken.

Barrows worried whether his guns would used in a shooting, but his calls were not returned by the detective working the case after the initial investigation, he said.

“I quit calling,” Barrows said. “I wasn’t happy with the experience.”

McCall described gun thefts as crimes of opportunity. In most burglaries where guns were stolen, electronics or jewelry also were stolen.

Guns were stolen out of vehicles more often than homes, and sometimes those vehicles were unlocked.

In one instance, three shotguns were stolen from truck parked overnight at a Cape Girardeau bar Feb. 22, 2014, according to an incident report. The driver put his keys in a toolbox outside the truck, and the thief was able to remove the shotguns by opening the truck door with no resistance, according to the report.

“We’ve seen throughout the state an increase of firearms stolen from vehicles,” Hamm said.

Barrows, Cooper and Bradley Wayne Sample said they believed they were targeted because of a knowledge they had guns. Sample had 10 guns stolen from his home during a burglary June 23, 2011, according to an incident report. Three suspects not named in the report were arrested. A Taurus .38 Special, a Glock .40-caliber and a Ruger Blackhawk 357 were returned to Sample, according to the report.

Sample said he thought he had his guns in a secure location.

“Not as well as they are now,” he said of the protection he’s added for his guns. “I have them locked in a safe.”

McCall recommended keeping guns in a safe or another secure location. A gun case may not provide sufficient protection because potential thieves might just take the case, McCall said.

McCall and Hamm recommended writing down serial numbers so guns can be traced. While many victims in Cape Girardeau could provide serial numbers for their guns after they were stolen, thefts of four guns or more were left with blank serial numbers next to the description of the stolen gun.

“Nobody can look for it until we know it’s stolen,” Hamm said.

bkleine@semissourian.com

(573) 388-3644

Pertinent address: 1900 block Belleridge Pike, Cape Girardeau, MO