The chief of police in Gilroy may be in a bit of hot water on Friday night after his loaded gun, badge, and laptop were stolen.
An investigation is underway to see if any laws were broken. The gun was inside the chief’s personal vehicle, which was also stolen.
The decision to leave the gun in his truck is one the chief tells KRON4 he would like to make all over again.
“It’s embarrassing,” Police Chief Scott Smithee said.
Smithee has a new .45 Caliber GLOCK sidearm because his old one was stolen while he attended a graduation last Friday at Modesto Community College.
“They had security there, and they were checking people for weapons and contraband, and I didn’t want to take a chance of not getting in with my gun, so I returned to my truck and put it in the center
console under some stuff, and locked the truck and turned the alarm on,” Smithee said. “And when I came back after the event, my truck and my gun and my computers were gone.”
Modesto police have since arrested 36-year old Louis Brubeck in connection with the theft. They also recovered the chief’s Ford F-250 pickup, but his gun, badge, and laptop are still missing.
State law says the chief’s gun ought to have been in a lock box inside his locked truck.
“It’s not a serious crime, but it nonetheless violates our department policy,” Smithee said. “My own department policy says that it must meet the law.”
Chief Smithee knows all too well and is clearly troubled by the knowledge that his stolen gun will likely not be recovered and could one day be used to commit a crime.
He freely admits he made a mistake.
“You can make all kinds of excuses, but at the end of the day, these kinds of things happen, and it doesn’t matter whether you are the chief or a line officer, you just need to deal with it and take steps to prevent it in the future,” Smithee said.
The city has hired a third-party independent investigator to look into whether the chief will face any discipline.
That state law requiring guns be kept in a lockbox carries with it a $1,000 fine.