Assault rifle stolen from Hastings police squad car

By: Keith Grauman, The Hastings Star-Gazette

An AR-15 assault rifle was stolen from the Hastings Police Department’s DARE vehicle Tuesday morning while it was parked outside the home of an officer.

Around 6 a.m. Tuesday, Aug. 10, a call came into the police department about gunshots coming from the ponding basin located immediately to the west of Christa McAuliffe Elementary School, near where W. 14th Street dead-ends.

The caller saw someone leaving the area carrying what looked like a backpack and a case. A witness followed the suspect, but lost sight of the suspect after he or she was seen crossing Highway 55 near Pleasant Drive.

Hastings police officers and Dakota County sheriff’s deputies combed the area, searching for the suspect, but didn’t find anyone. The Hastings police K-9 also attempted to track the person’s scent, but was unable to do so.

At about 6:50 a.m., less than an hour later, the officer who had the DARE vehicle at his house came outside to begin his workday and saw that a window on the vehicle had been shattered.

The officer, who lives in the same neighborhood in which the gunshots were reported, discovered the rifle and its case, along with his duty bag, were missing from the vehicle. A duty bag typically contains things like extra handcuffs, ammunition and raingear.

While the police officers and deputies were initially searching for the suspect, they drove by a garage with an open door in the neighborhood. In speaking with the homeowner, they discovered a car in the garage had been ransacked, but nothing was missing. Police believe the two break-ins are related.

The investigation into the stolen gun is ongoing, according to Police Chief Mike McMenomy. On Thursday afternoon, there were officers searching the wooded areas near Highway 55 and Pleasant Drive in hopes of recovering the weapon.

McMenomy said anytime a gun falls into the wrong hands it’s a concern, but an AR-15 shoots at a higher velocity than a handgun, which makes it even more dangerous.

Every Hastings police squad car is equipped with an AR-15. They’re supposed to be locked into a secure device in the squad behind the driver’s seat, but because the DARE vehicle is relatively new, about two months old, and isn’t a typical squad car design, the police department was still looking into a lock for the rifle, McMenomy said.

“The gun shouldn’t have been in the car,” he said.

On Tuesday and Wednesday, McMenomy said the police department would have taken the gun back, no questions asked, if it were returned. McMenomy said if the gun hadn’t been returned by the end of the day on Thursday Aug. 13, that offer would be off the table.

The damage to the vehicle, coupled with the stolen property, totals about $2,000. A reward is being offered for information leading to the arrest of the person or people responsible. If you have information about the incident, you’re encouraged to call the Hastings Police Department at 480-2300.

. . . but an AR-15 shoots at a higher velocity than a handgun, which makes it even more dangerous.

... I am having a hard time finding sympathy for the officer.

...is there any way that some sort of firearm familiarization course could be given to aspiring journalists? Since this is not a quote, it has to be opinion by the writer.

McMenomy said anytime a gun falls into the wrong hands it’s a concern, but an AR-15 shoots at a higher velocity than a handgun, which makes it even more dangerous.

To be fair to the cop, the window was smashed and the gun stolen. If one of us legally leaves his firearm in the car, locked in a vault or not, and the car is broken into and the gun stolen, how much harassment from fellow gun owners do you want to bear, let along that from the antis.

That said, I try not to leave my firearms in my vehicles unless I have to disarm to be legal. Further, when I do, it is locked up and I don't leave it in plain view the way it probably was in the squad.

No, you cut off the sentence:



A .223 round WILL go through more walls -- and ballistic vests -- than a handgun round, in part dues to its speed.

At worst, the reporter's paraphrase might have been less than clear. More likely, though, that's just what the cop said. And it's true -- a 9mm shoots at around 1100 fps, a .223 at something around 3000 fps.

Of course, it's not the whole story, but you can't expect a ballistics and physics lesson in a news article.