Pahokee Florida police chief's car - with guns - stolen
By Larry Hobbs, Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, October 1, 2003
ROYAL PALM BEACH -- Pahokee Police Chief Rafael Duran was in uniform and driving his unmarked police car when he made a quick stop at the Wal-Mart here late one night last month to pick up a few things.
But the car's blue lights and other law-enforcement equipment didn't stop thieves from breaking into the 2002 Ford Police Interceptor on Sept. 18 and stealing it from the parking lot -- along with a semi-automatic assault rifle, a shotgun, an automatic pistol and ammunition that were being kept in the trunk.
Sheriff's deputies recovered the car the next day, abandoned on a service road at Palm Beach International Airport. The firearms are still missing.
Duran lost some personal items, including a video camera. But it's the thought of those guns winding up in the wrong hands that angers him, he said. Particularly troubling was the AR-15, a rifle with long-range accuracy. Duran used the rifle to qualify in marksmanship at the county's firing range and knows its capabilities.
"I could care less about my personal stuff," said Duran, a 17-year veteran of the sheriff's office who has been in command in Pahokee since August. "It's the AR-15 that bothers me more than anything else."
Duran rarely runs personal errands in uniform and isn't too keen on using a police car in such situations, he said. But he keeps the car, and the guns inside, at all times because his role requires him to be on call "24-7," Duran said. He and his 12-year-old son live near the Wal-Mart and stopped there to pick up toothpaste and office supplies, he said.
About 20 minutes later, Duran returned to broken window glass in the empty parking spot, then caught sight of the car speeding away on Belvedere Road. Duran has since spent what time he can spare trying the catch the thieves and recover the guns, he said. He said progress has been made and that arrest may come soon.
"I'm doing my own follow-up, anything I can," he said.