Thieves break into CoCo sheriff's cruisers, take weapons

Thieves break into CoCo sheriff's cruisers, take weapons
Henry K. Lee, Chronicle Staff Writer

Wednesday, January 7, 2009


(01-06) 18:38 PST Martinez --

Thieves broke into Contra Costa County Sheriff's Department cruisers and made off with three semiautomatic rifles and two shotguns, several weeks after a similar break-in at the California Highway Patrol office in Martinez, authorities said today.

The theft at the sheriff's stations in Richmond and Martinez occurred sometime between Monday night and early this morning, said Jimmy Lee, Contra Costa sheriff's spokesman.

At Martinez headquarters, someone broke into a locked back parking lot at the office at 1900 Muir Road, broke into several Ford Crown Victoria cruisers and stole three AR-15 rifles and a shotgun, Lee said.

At about the same time, someone stole a shotgun from a cruiser at the sheriff's Bay Station at 5555 Giant Highway in Richmond, Lee said.

No arrests have been made. The thefts are a "big concern" and a "high priority for the sheriff," Lee said.

Thefts from police cars are unusual but not unheard of.

On Dec. 16, the CHP discovered that someone had broken into several cruisers at its office at 5001 Blum St. in Martinez, making off with an AR-15 and ammunition.

Over the past six months, two other agencies in Contra Costa County have also reported gun thefts, but it wasn't immediately clear which departments were involved. It was not known whether the recent thefts in the county were related.

Last year, police shot and wounded a man after he broke into an Antioch police car and grabbed the AR-15 inside.

In 2006, someone broke into a San Mateo County sheriff's detective's car and took a .40-caliber Smith & Wesson semiautomatic pistol and two magazines. The weapon was later used in several bank robberies on the Peninsula, including a heist in San Mateo in which a shot was fired.

In 2001, a thief made off with a master key to the fleet for the Santa Cruz County Sheriff's Department and got into a SWAT team member's car, stealing an AR-15, two MP-5 machine pistols, ammunition and flash-bang grenades.

First the CHP now Contra Costa County Sheriff's Department. It's truly something wrong when theives are not afraid to steal from Law Enforcement