Sweet, Succulent Justice.

In late July through the first week of August I went fishing and kayaking in Northern Utah and Southern Idaho. Idaho and Utah have CWP reciprocity, so I of course took my faithful everyday companion, the CZ P-01.

After an amazing week I made the 5 hour drive home. I unloaded my canoe and kayak so that the truck would fit in the garage, but left everything else in the locked vehicle. Exhausted, I came inside and cleaned up.

My son took out the garbage, through the garage side-door, and also unlocked the truck in order to retrieve a new pair of shoes we had purchased for him on the trip. He apparently did not lock the truck as I had asked, nor did he lock the exterior garage door. I typically check the doors every night before going to bed, but on this night passed out without planning on falling asleep and did not go through my normal routine.

The next morning was a Monday. I woke up to get ready for work, and while collecting the items I take with me every day remembered that I left my pistol in the truck. I finished getting ready and went out to leave, at which point I noticed that my pistol was not in the truck. I was positive I left it in the truck but checked my safe and night stand drawer (the only two places it EVER goes if not on my person) and didn't find it. I went through everything in the truck just to make sure I hadn't done something stupid, but to no avail.

I know this sounds terrible - how could someone leave a firearm unsecured in a vehicle. I agree - I normally would never do this, and have never done this before this night. That's what makes this whole thing so strange - if it weren't for a very specific chain of events this could have never happened. For him to steal my pistol without being caught immediately the following chain of events occurred:

• Got home late and tired, was lazy and didn't unpack everything.
• I locked up and set the alarm, but doors were unlocked and alarms disabled in order to take out the trash.
• I locked the truck but the truck was unlocked by a good-intentioned 7-year-old in order to get some sweet blue Chucks out of the car.
• Passed out unexpectedly on couch. Woke up and turned off lights on my way to the bedroom.
• Random douchebag was out turning door knobs at 3 AM. Just so happened to be passing my house that night.
  
• Didn't catch him on my front-facing camera. Didn't have a garage camera installed at that time (I do now).

Weirder still, a few nights before I had one of those rare dreams that I actually remembered and told my wife. In the dream, someone had stolen a gun from me. I didn't remember all of the details but it was a rifle and the dream upset me enough that I woke up in the middle of the night with a feeling of dread.. I have never had a similarly themed dream before and haven't since.

I called police after looking through all of the gear I brought back from the trip. I still had this feeling in the back of my head that this wasn't real and that I had done something really stupid and left it somewhere. I was terrified that if it was stolen it was some dumb teenage neighborhood kids out enjoying the last week of summer vacation. I was so worried someone would get hurt due to my negligence. That thought persisted for 10 days, nonstop, until a detective with the Tooele County PD called me and told me they had retrieved my firearm. I asked for an ammo type and count and all was present. The gun was found under the couch of some 27-year-old miscreant who had apparently been checking doors. He had made quite a haul, and had stolen a number of credit cards (which is actually what led to him being caught). He was actually out of jail on his own recognizance after being released only a couple of weeks earlier. He had a court date approaching for a number of other charges, including burglary, grand theft auto, and using stolen credit cards. Rather than take time to reflect on his poor life choices, he doubled down and added a few felonies to the list.

Anyway, my property has been in the Tooele Co. PD evidence room since then. Homeskillet just got sentenced yesterday and ended up getting 1-15 years in prison. He had something like 30 charges that were mulled down to 6, including 2 charges related to stealing my gun. I hope the soap is really slippery and he drops it frequently over the next few years. I'm sure he won't get out at 1, but will almost certainly not spend 15 there.

I guess the moral of the story is to be safe and secure your belongings - particularly belongings that could cause damage or death if used improperly. Ultimately this is all my fault for not being diligent in my handling of a firearm. If you do read this long ass wall of text and take nothing else from it, take this at least; Always secure your firearms. Even when your ass is dragging and you are crispy from the sun, take that extra 5 minutes to lock them up.

I am lucky that no one was hurt. If my own laziness had resulted in the harm or death of an innocent person I couldn't stand to have that on my conscience.

Be safe out there folks.






Can't wait until we're reunited.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=26J0uDIGErM

 

Glad you got it back and that he got caught.

 

what are the odds you get robbed the only time you don't lock your truck. I say it's karma getting back at the deadbeat. Now he is going to jail for a long time

 

Damn, buddy! That must have been quite unnerving. I'll go home and confirm mi e is locked now.

Typically my ADHD would kick me off a long post like this but something compelled me to keep reading.

Thanks for the reminder to be safe in all of my daily processes

 

Yeah.. I used to be an avid reader. Now I see a wall of text and skip to the end.

I have been frustrated with these events, wanted to write them down somewhere. Glad everything is coming to an end now!

Also DA Robert Clegg is a super nice guy. The cops were basically like "you should be able to leave a gun in your garage and people shouldn't just come in your garage and take shit!" when I expressed how terrible I felt about the whole thing. I live in a good town with good people - there are always a few bad apples tho.

I also got lucky. Some of the people Mr. Hill burglarized no longer have property to recover. They don't make much money in the prison cafeteria so it's going to be a long time before they are able to recoup their losses. Overall I'm pretty lucky.

 

and my wife gets on me for taking care of my gun before unloading stuff from the truck. I should let her read this caption. thanks.

 

damn bud, glad everything worked out!

Hope that asshat gets what's coming to him!

 

Yeah.. And I can't stress enough, this is not something that I regularly or even infrequently do. This was an outlier weekend where things didn't follow normal protocol because I was tired and took shortcuts. If my own stupidity earns you a marital ally in your own dealings, at least some good came out of all of this.

 

Phew! Glad you found it and good for you for reporting it to the cops.

 

Whew... I'm exhausted from all the reading. Glad it all worked out well.

 

I'd like to buy a vowel..

 

It was a bad, immature joke.. But if I could buy a vowel, or even trade one in, I'd be swapping that "u" out for an "i."

Yes, sometimes I surprise even myself with how immature I truly am.

 

Yeah and it doesn't quite spell what I wanted it to in my head, but still...

And I HAVENT been on a leaf blower all day. Just lots and lots of conference calls. Think my brain is mush

 

Glad you got your baby back. Really like that old song you attached. I let it play while I read the rest of the thread. Now I'm all chilled out.

 

I agree it's important to keep firearms secured. Everything in my house is in the safe or lock box other than the pistol that is always on my person or in the top drawer of my night stand, locked. I would normally not leave something like this in my truck.. This was after a long weekend of boating, rowing, and hours of driving. When I got home I unloaded canoes and kayaks, came inside and the next thing I remember I was waking up in the middle of the night to crawl upstairs into bed.

I have my C&R and have been collecting curios and relics for many years - it's just habit for me to log everything into my book (two books, actually, one for collector pieces and one for my own firearms). This was seriously a situation that was far outside of normality. I explained it all in another post somewhere too.

Anyway, my wife just used my recovered P-01 to take a defensive pistol course. I'm glad primarily that no one was hurt and also very glad to have it back.

 

Reminds me of the time I left my nightstand gun in my unsecured nightstand and left for work... just like locking your keys in your vehicle, you never understand how it can happen until you do it.
I was super busy at work... a bazillion things on my mind... I go through the same routine every work day... but that day I walked right out of the house and left the gun unsecured... made me sick at my stomach when I remembered as I was walking in from the parking lot. Fortunately my wife was home... I called her and she put it in the safe.

Thanks for sharing your story, Mike... I can’t imagine the worry you must have had.... and then the relief when it was recovered. Just like you... since that day when I leave the house I slow down and double check everything. Can’t be too safe!

 

It is indeed a terrible feeling!

I think it's human nature after you have exposure and familiarity with something to become more relaxed and take it for granted. We do this with our spouses, our safety while commuting in motor vehicles, our guns.. When I first started carrying I was hyper-vigilant with safety and security. Clearly I got comfortable and a little too loose. This was a reminder to me (and hopefully to others as well) that you should always be diligent in securing a firearm and using it safely.

 

Was he a local to Tooele? Or a Kearns resident.

Glad this all worked out for you buddy!

 

Glad everything worked out! Good lesson learned.

 

Ha! Wouldn't be surprised if he was from Kearns.. I'm unsure though. Probably Tooele trash.

 

We've had an unruly amount of car thefts in my part of SLC by the U of U. I'm glad they didn't lift your truck.

One guy who jacked my friends SUV was from Kearns and said there has been a rash of people coming up from that way for grand theft. I hate people sometimes.

 

I can't remember where you said you were in Tooele. Not the South side hopefully. Haha either way... If we need to go on a manhunt I got your back

 

If we go on a manhunt you are by default required to help with the bodies..

I'm in the east side of Tooele, near Canyon Village, all-new homes bordering the 5 acre lots in Erda.. it's supposed to be a nice neighborhood! And yeah, Kearns is a nightmare. It's the Compton of SL Co. A few years ago a friend of mine bought a house out there and his car got broke in to a few times before he finally moved.

 

It's not that Glock owners are poor - they just don't know any better! Hopefully a friendly CZ missionary comes knocking soon, to teach them the word of wisdom and the way of the righteous.

 

We have this shop here, Tooele Shooting Supply. The owner's name is Chad, he's also a CZ fan.. They carry one of the largest selection of CZ pistols in the state despite being such a small shop. These guys tend to have the best prices ANYWHERE. If it's not on their site call them and they can probably order.

He is a small, privately owned gun shop that operates out of his home. TSS will transfer to your FFL.

If you were sure you wanted to buy something you might save some money purchasing out of Utah (avoiding tax) and then paying shipping + transfer fees to your local FFL.

http://tooeleshootingsupply.com/product-category/firearms/handguns/?filter_manufacturer=czu-usa