Stolen weapons update

[SquirrelsaurusR]

A year ago, I was involved in helping to spread the word about an incident that happened last October. This is the notice that went out over the internet:

Here in the Bay area there's an English Civil War group that travels around central and northern California doing re-enactments of historic battles. This morning in San Jose, CA, St. John's property was stolen, a trailer containing a replica 1490's-era breech loading cannon, naval connonade, halberds, pavilion, tables, chairs, lamps, coin boxes, hand cannons, other miscellaneous weapons, etc. It's an 8' white 'Wells Cargo' trailer with two heraldic shields painted on the left side, Lic #1HM9770. The owners have a lot of time and money invested in this trailer and it's contents. Please keep an eye out for it and call the police if you see it. Or call Chris Morgan at (925) 828-0373.
Thanks in advance.
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Here is an update, as of 10/15/04:

I called Chris Morgan, owner of the trailer that was stolen (he lives just 15 minutes from me). He tells me that the items were never recovered. The trailer itself was found, completely gutted, including the hitch, frame, and all the internal framework and shelves that Chris spent weeks building. It was basically just a big empty box that was recovered. The perpetrators had apparently attempted to scrape off the shields painted on the side.

The police only had a couple of questions for him: Did the trailer contain any 'real' guns (meaning modern centerfire guns), and was there any 'real' ammunition? They didn't appear very interested when the answer was 'no', and they never called him with updates on the situation. He had to continually call them to get any information. (There was no blackpowder stored in the trailer, either.)

None of the contents have been seen since they were stolen. The 1490's-era breech loading cannon was an exacting replica of an original. On a sad note, the man who built it passed away last month.

 

[musketman]

The sad truth to the story is that most of the time, the items are not recovered...

Nor can they be replaced, sure you can get a "like" item, but with the passing of the cannon's maker, that seems unlikely to happen, unless someone who owns another cannon that this man built is willing to sell theirs...

As for the police asking if any "REAL" guns were taken, I would ask the police if any "REAL" effort was made to find them...

 

The sad truth is that todays cops are NOT investigators.
Used to be if something happened on your watch you were EXPECTED to make an effort to solve or stop the activity.
Now they just take reports and turn it over to the real detectives that are over burdnened to the point that only the most publicized crimes get attention.
Don't forget cops are part of a POLITICAL subdivision and are politically controlled.
Headlines make good reading.
"Cops bust drug dealers" is news.
Recovering guns ain't. :curse:

 

[Keith]

There is a lot of effort put into activities for the supervisors. Reports and tickets are written to keep the boss off your back. Ticket quotas are illegal, but don't think it doesn't get noticed if your "productivity" is low. Alot of guys get worn down and do what they have to keep their heads above water. The ones who want to really work often don't have time between running from complaint to complaint, doing the meaningless paperwork that keeps the bureacracy running.
Anyway enough of my babbling. I hope everyone else chose more fulfilling careers. :yakyak:

 

:agree:
Keith , north of the 49 things are just about the same . 32 years on the joband now all we do (shift superv.)is read files , punch computers and read messages from upstairs that deal with everything but doing the work that got us into the buisness.

A loss like this can never be replaced. This Forum is a great spot to 'get the word out', hope it never happens to us .
Take care :m2c: