SWAT Firearms Stolen at local eatery

[saintsfanbrian]

Machine guns stolen from SWAT van

April 23, 2007

Memphis police were looking Monday night for the thieves who stole seven weapons from a North Carolina SWAT team van parked in South Memphis.

Members of the SWAT team based in Raleigh, N.C., were eating at Interstate Bar-B-Que, 2265 S. Third, about 3:30 p.m. Monday when they realized their van had been broken into, said Lt. Jerry Gwyn of Memphis felony response.

Taken were three machine guns, two semi-automatic handguns, and two 12-gauge shot guns, Gwyn said.

The officers, who were traveling from Raleigh to Little Rock for training, noticed two thieves driving away in a burgundy Ford Expedition, Gwyn said. A video surveillance camera also caught the thieves in action.

"We’re concerned with getting these guns off the street," Gwyn said. "We have a lot of folks working on it right now."

The theft was reminiscent of a heist in 1997, when thieves stole a Little Rock FBI team’s Suburban. Inside the SUV were grenade launchers, M-16 rifles, submachine guns and other potent weapons, which were found after an intense three-day search.

http://www.commercialappeal.com/mca/local/...5501442,00.html

Took this from another gun board, but I knew about it happening (all over the news) This place is about 3 blocks from where I work.

[TGO David]

It takes balls to steal weapons from a SWAT team. Big, giant, brass balls.

[Guest 0down]

That place is just down the street from where I work. In this hood ball size and IQ are inversely proportional. The police even call this place "Little Fallujah" I keep thinking my drive home from work one day will look like a scene from Black Hawk Down.

[Guest Ghostrider]

It takes balls to steal weapons from a SWAT team. Big, giant, brass balls.

Yeap, attached to a very tiny, atrophied brain with poor connection to anything rational...

[shaftbass]

That place is just down the street from where I work. In this hood ball size and IQ are inversely proportional. The police even call this place "Little Fallujah" I keep thinking my drive home from work one day will look like a scene from Black Hawk Down.

Wouldn't that be Little Nigeria

[saintsfanbrian]

Tungsten - they were distracted by the bar-b-que you know. As soon as they stepped away from the trough, they realized that the guns were gone.

A joke here though,

Since the SWAT are Police, isn't it canibalism for them to be eating pork?

Just kidding, just kidding don't go stalking my car for tickets and all, I have the utmost respect for law enforcement.

[Guest 0down]

The BBQ is worth the risk. Neely's is awesome.

[SkWaShDeM]

This just reminds me of why I will not enter Memphis specifically, and Shelby County generally, under any circumstances unless I am armed.

[molonlabetn]

I am outraged at how incredibly un-just it is for criminals to be allowed access to fully automatic weapons, while law-abiding citizens have to jump through hoops to even get 20 year-old machine-guns!

Imagine if Cho had been such a hard-core criminal, with an MP-5 hot off the street, while the victims were legally defenseless! Who would the media blame then?

[Guest CrazyLincoln]

If that isn't bad enough. My armed friends don't even stop for lights or signs in Orange Mound. Not that the the cops that are there are worrying about traffic violations....

[Guest GlocKingTN]

It takes balls to steal weapons from a SWAT team. Big, giant, brass balls.

Yes it does! How brave can a person be?

[Guest RN MEDIC]

Fully automatic firearms like those should have NEVER been left unattended by an armed officers while parked in Memphis. Just too much crime and too many auto burglaries. One or two guys should have been left to "babysit" the arms even if someone had to bring them a plate or eat in shifts. Those things are just too dangerous in the hands of the criminals who have them now.

RN

[Guest 0down]

This is how we roll!

[Guest db99wj]

Here's a breakdown of what was stolen:

Recovered:

3 Sig Model 551, 223's, full auto

3 Remington 870 12 guages

Not Recovered:

1 Sig 229 .357

1 Sig 226 .357

[TGO David]

Interesting... SWAT uses 357sig as their round o' choice in a few guns.

[shaftbass]

Did they just find the guns or did they find the people who stole them?

[Guest db99wj]

Yes for the most part, there still might be a few others involved.

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) - Memphis police said experience with a previous case helped them recover six weapons, including three automatic assault rifles, from thieves who stole the small arsenal from a North Carolina police van.

Thieves in a stolen vehicle broke into a van belonging to the Wake County, N.C., SWAT team while it was parked Monday in the parking lot of Interstate Bar-B-Que near Interstate 55 in Memphis.

The officers were passing through Memphis on their way to the World SWAT Challenge in Little Rock, Ark.

Memphis Police Director Larry Godwin put together a team that had worked on a similar theft in 1997, when an FBI SWAT van was stolen with sophisticated weapons, including grenade launchers.

Those weapons were recovered and the suspects charged. Within 48 hours of the theft, police had arrested Brian Bowles, 21, and Clent Green, 23, and recovered three shotguns and three fully automatic, $12,000 SG-551 military-grade assault rifles that can fire up to 600 rounds a minute.

The search for two semiautomatic handguns and several other suspects continues, police said.

Green was arrested on eight outstanding warrants for vehicle break-ins, and Bowles was charged with the theft of the stolen vehicle from Bally's Casino in Tunica, Miss.

Several other suspects have been detained and were being questioned, police said. Police said they believe Green has operated a crew of thieves that target work vans, which often hold valuable tools, and vehicles with out-of-state plates.

Police said the suspects didn't know the van contained police weapons until they broke into it.

[shaftbass]

Police said the suspects didn't know the van contained police weapons until they broke into it.

"So we decided to steal them anyway." Maybe the charges should be dropped because of that

[Guest GlocKingTN]

Last I heard, they had suspects!

[Punisher84]

Welcome to Memphis! We need to have a sign at all entrances to Memphis "If you have stuff you don't want stolen, especially things like fully automatic firearms, don't stop and eat ON THIRD STREET!!! Enjoy your stay in our neighbor-HOOD."