Crime & Safety

Visitor Leaves Gun Unattended, Unsecured; Now It's Gone

Tennessee man staying at hotel left his handgun and ammo in his SUV overnight and can't be sure he locked the vehicle. Police find no sign of forced entry.

Another handgun is adrift somewhere on the streets of metro Milwaukee, no thanks to a traveler who brought the weapon to town but failed to keep it secure.

According to a police report:

The visitor, from Brentwood, TN, called police to say that between 5 p.m. Friday and 11:08 a.m. Saturday, while he was at Extended Stay motel, 11121 W. North Ave., someone got into his SUV and stole his 9mm handgun, its holster, three magazines and two boxes of ammunition he had left inside it overnight.

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He said he had walked up to his 2008 Toyota 4Runner and used the electronic remote key and heard a click, so he thought it had been locked, and he didn't believe he would likely have forgotten to lock it.

But when he opened the door, he found that the vehicle had been thoroughly rifled, with his belongings strewn everywhere. The only thing missing, though, was his gun, its ammo and accessories.

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Police checked the 4Runner carefully and could find no sign whatsoever of a forced entry. Typically, any form of forced entry including the use of a slim jim will leave some slight evidence.

The man had a valid Tennessee concealed carry permit, which is also lawful in Wisconsin, but he was unable to provide the serial number or even the model of his missing weapon, and had no information about it other than that it was a SIG Sauer brand.

He called the police back later to say that he had tried repeatedly to contact the gun shop in his home state where he had bought the weapon to get the information, but without success.

He placed the value of the gun at $800, the ammo and accessories at an additional $105.


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