Thieves steal cache of weapons from Puyallup Green Beret
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PUYALLUP, Wash. -- Police are on the hunt for the brazen thieves who ransacked a Puyallup Green Beret's home while he was deployed overseas.
The burglars kicked in the front door, opened the garage and made off with a large cache of powerful guns and ammunition. They stole a number of rifles, pistols and shotguns, as well as various other weapons and body armor.
The homeowner, a member of the United States Army Special Forces, also lost a knife that had great sentimental value to him.
"A Yarborough knife is a knife you get when you pass a course to become a Green Beret," he said.
The crooks also stole the man's credit cards, and surveillance video captured a group of people using them. Police posted that videos online in hopes of getting a tip on the crime.
Police have seized one of the stolen guns from a convicted felon, but the rest are still missing.
"It's being sold hand to hand, street transactions, Craigslist, that sort of thing," said Det. Michael Lusk of the Puyallup Police Department.
The criminal impact of adding so many deadly weapons to the streets if far reaching, and the homeowner's personal loss is profound.
"It's unreplaceable," he said.
The burglars kicked in the front door, opened the garage and made off with a large cache of powerful guns and ammunition. They stole a number of rifles, pistols and shotguns, as well as various other weapons and body armor.
The homeowner, a member of the United States Army Special Forces, also lost a knife that had great sentimental value to him.
"A Yarborough knife is a knife you get when you pass a course to become a Green Beret," he said.
The crooks also stole the man's credit cards, and surveillance video captured a group of people using them. Police posted that videos online in hopes of getting a tip on the crime.
Police have seized one of the stolen guns from a convicted felon, but the rest are still missing.
"It's being sold hand to hand, street transactions, Craigslist, that sort of thing," said Det. Michael Lusk of the Puyallup Police Department.
The criminal impact of adding so many deadly weapons to the streets if far reaching, and the homeowner's personal loss is profound.
"It's unreplaceable," he said.
I am so sick of thieves and they are getting more and more brazen. Everyone is talking about limiting our right to own guns but no one is talking about cracking down on thieves and criminals. It's high time.
WIllow, you hit the nail SQUARELY ON THE HEAD.
I would NOT want to be involved in this and on the street when this guy returns from overseas and goes looking for folks. He is trained to "take care of things" - and I'm pretty sure he and his fellow Green Berets will do just that - I hope!!!Â
As he should...since the LEOs and courts have proven that they cannot get it done.
Why can't we get some decent photos of criminals? Why is it the pictures are always either way small, or grainy beyond recognition.Â
Stir the pot, play on emotion, ignore the facts, and we can just all get along.
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Who needs freedom? It's such an out dated concept.
When I was active duty, we had to place our personal weapons with the armor if deployed or if we lived on base. I too wonder where the weapons were "secured" and why they might not have been in a safe (if indeed they were not).
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Securing weapons and any intelligence items (or anything that could aid the enemy for that matter) is one of the FIRST things even basic Marines and Soldiers learn, not too mention Berets who are HIGHLY trained. I feel for his embarrassment, thank him for his service but most importantly hope that ALL is recovered BEFORE additional crimes occur and that others learn from this.
@thirtysomethingnwnative --- "Securing weapons and any intelligence items (or anything that could aid the enemy for that matter) is one of the FIRST things even basic Marines...."
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I'll vouch for that with my time in the military. If this guy left his military weapons laying around unsecure like this, he'd be up on serious charges for it - even if nothing worse happened beyond a brief moment they were misplaced.  Let alone if they were stolen.Â
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How a highly trained person can screw up like this, I'll never understand.
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No - we are not blaming the victim. We are describing his failure to keep his guns secure. That is entirely different and seperate from his having his house broken into.
Hindsight is 20/20.   But he should have locked those up in a safe.
 @grayfox That's what I'm curious about. Mine are all in a safe along with anything else important that will fit. Safes can be stolen or cracked but it is not an easy or quick task especially for what appear to be lowlife scumbags.
@SensationaLies  Well they say the smartest people make dumb mistakes from time to time. He probably was preoccupied with this duties as a Green Beret. But i'm sure he's learned from his mistakes.    Lucky the perps didn't run into the Green Beret during the breakin,   would have been some fine display of Close Quarters Combat (CQC) practice for the green beret!
 @grayfox That would have been worth seeing for sure!
Every illegally owned gun starts off as a legally owned one.
 @Travis Hartnett So what you are saying that I can't just go buy an illegal gun legally?
 @aintno1special  @Travis HartnettÂ
correct, 2 wrongs don't make a right, but three lefts do.
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 @DoctorPC  @aintno1special  @Travis Hartnett That would be - three lefties as in left wing nut jobs.
 @DoctorPC  @Travis Hartnett ..and 4 make a square or rectangle..or trapezoid..or....
 @Travis Hartnett So does every car that a drunk plows over people with.
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Thank you captain obvious.
Why in hell should our society allow a man to have these weapons? In which twisted unrealistic scenario could them become useful for the community? A zombie apocalypse maybe?
 @Damian ..what weapon do you feel is too much of a weapon to own?
 @Damian For the same reason that our society should allow you to write posts freely as yours. It's his right! But then again he likes something you don't so we should ban them. I wonder who else thought like that? Hmmm. any guesses kiddies?
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This guy went to war to protect your right to post comments that not everyone agrees with, using the very tools that you deem un nessesary.
 @Zanshin I didn't realize anyone's freedom of speech was on the line in Afghanistan and Iraq.
 @BigBrother206 You don't believe that the terrorists that this guy went to Afghanistan and Iraq to fight wouldn't like to remove your freedom of speech? Why not? They have removed that freedom from their own people.
If you it would make you feel better I'll amend my statement to read; "to give others the right of free speech." Better?
@BigBrother206 @Zanshin Seriously?
Wow KOMO you put an ad on the video that is in essence a public service announcement?
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 @Grumpa But the pics are so bad you can't see anything.
Lets see. Many folks in their posts here have called this homeowner.....a military man serving his country over seas and in harms way at the request of his country, an idiot, irresponsible, & negligent. In some cases he was nearly called an accessory to the crime. Doesn't sound like somebody you folks would probably want protecting your country. Might be nice if some would take a second to read thru their posts before hitting send. You ingrates make my head hurt.
@moreoftenright -Â if he's not willing to properly secure his weapons to keep them from falling into the hands of criminals, would he be capable of properly securing his military weapons to keep them from falling into the hands of the enemy?
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Of course he would be with the military weapons.
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In the military there are substantial penalties for failing to properly secure your weapons - and doubly so if they are the misused to harm someone, lost, stolen or misplaced.
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So why didn't he follow through at least somewhat with that training and knowledge with his personally owned guns?
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And why are we willing to not ask why he didn't follow at least part of those standards with his personal weapons?
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Or should we not hold them (or us) to an adequate level of personal responsibility?
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We are seperating his being the victim of a break in from his apparent disregard for the very gun safety and security rules that he learned in the military and probably in the civilian world as well, and are taking him to task not for the break in, but for the failure to keep his guns secure.
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@FormerMarineSgt Like it's been stated before. You must be a former roommate with an ax to grind. How else could you possibly know so much about this mans living conditions. ("So why didn't he follow through at least somewhat with that training and knowledge with his personally owned guns?") Time to fess up to the fact that you have no way of knowing how or if his guns were secured. Shouldn't talk as though you do. it's a disservice to this man.
@moreoftenright - so you know that I'm wrong eh? HOW?
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You have no way of knowing that he did properly secure them. And given the facts that 1) they were so easily stolen and 2) there is no mention of a safe in the news article, it's far more likely that he didn't properly secure them.
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So unless you've got some actual facts that counter that logical conclusion, you're grasping at straws and trying to prove something that isn't true.
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I said it in response to a blanket comment below and it's at least worth repeating again. Remember that "idiot" gun owner is deployed right now and is on the front lines. Most SF guys I know are the brightest and smartest people I know. Don't call him an idiot just say thank you and get back to your internet vitriol I am sure he feels horrible that those weapons are now out there. I am sure he felt his house was secure. No one anticipates to be violated by home invasion.Â
It's important to keep in mind that the victim is not at fault here, but why in Hades does he need to keep so many weapons at home? Â Â I heard in one report that one of the weapons stolen was an M-14, a military rifle. Â Who needs one? Â Why weren't the weapons secured? Â If people want to keep owning guns, they have to do their part in keeping them off the street.
 @JustSayin Luckily it is not your place to decide what this man nor anyone else needs. That's what makes this country great and why this guy has gone to fight to give others that same right.
 @JustSayin you do know you can hunt with the m-14, right? i have seen guides take the mini 14 or the bushmaster in Alaska.Â
Did he have them in a safe?
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@pbs7mm - it appears he did not based on the story. I would bet that even KOMO would have included the oddity of thieves managing to break into a safe to get these guns if that had actually happened.Â
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Many people are posting that at least some these safes are easy to break into given enough time and the right equipment, although I have no experience or knowledge in that realm, but that would still be an odd enough event for the news folks that they would report on it.
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@FormerMarineSgt Doesn't say anything about a safe anywhere in this story as it reads now. Did they amend it? (Komo does do that fairly often) I haven't seen anything in this one to indicate either way.
@TheBaldone - that's the point. The story has never mentioned a safe. The folks who are making claims that he either had one or likely had one are basically creating that fiction out of thin air.
I thought responsible gun owner would have a gun safe.
 @1000 and if he is living by himself why does he need a safe? the people that broke into his house are the ones that broke the law, not him.
@beetle73 @1000 obviously he has several roommates.
 @1000 I didn't read in the story that he did not?
 @aintno1special Also didn't read in the story that he did. I guess we'll see if he's a responsible gun owner or not.
"Police posted that videos online in hopes of getting a tip on the crime."
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Those videos? That video?Â
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"The criminal impact of adding so many deadly weapons to the streets if far reaching..."
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Is far reaching?Â
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What's a 'large cache' consist of? Can we get any descriptions of the firearms involved?
One generic pic of a pistol and a knife does not constitute a 'cache'.
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Once again, it appears that KOMO is simply fueling the current agendas hyperbola and has little to bring to the table.
Throwing gas on the fire does nothing to solve the problems we face.
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 @bobalouie they describe them in the video....The "Powerful" weapons are a .40 pistol, .22 pisto,l 12gauge, 16 gauge shotgun, and a M14.
@aintno1special @bobalouie It would apear the media has blown this out of proportion by describing the weapons stolen as a "cache". I don't find anything unusual about the types or number of weapons he had. The .40 is a good firearm for personal protection. The .22 is great for inexpensive target practice. The 12 gauge is great for bird hunting as well as trap and skeet. Though not common 16 guage is also a good hunting and target shotgun. Finally, for someone who is in the line of work the victom is, the M14 would be very useful to maintain weapons proficency beyond the range time available through normal military training.Â
 @74Shovel  @aintno1special  @bobalouie Media...blown out of proportion...say it isn't so!!... I am but a mere mortal US citizen and this "cache" would be about 1/8 of what I have. Ridiculous what a few choice words can do to make something seem what it isn't!
Story should read "Another idiot gun owners negligence allows criminals access to weapons that WILL most likely lead to deaths". Â Get a clue gun owners. Lock your damn guns up! Put them in a gun safe!
 @educated That so called "idiot" your words, makes it so you can be an idiot and post stupid posts. So you might want to show some empathy and thank the man for his service.
@educated - I bet you wouldn't be calling this guy in special forces an idiot to his face. Quit reading these articles posted anywhere and think you have all the answers. You only get what they decide to print.
 @educated Remember that idiot gun owner is deployed right now and is on the front lines. Most SF guys I know are the brightest and smartest people I know. Don't call him an idiot just say thank you and get back to your internet vitriol (educated..hmmm). I am sure he feels horrible that those weapons are now out there.Â
@snowman @educated Thank you, that eeded to be pointed out. Regardless of whether they were in a safe or not, it wasn't the homeowner breaking the law.
 @educated I agree take every measure you can to prevent this type of theft...but no where in here does it say he did not have them locked up. Ever lock you car and come out and find it has been broken into? Locks and laws are only effective on the honest people.
 @educated Let me further my point...I have excuse me had 4 safes in my shop. a short story; I had about run out of room to comfortably store guns and other valuables, so I had purchased a Liberty safe and had it installed. 2 weeks later I come home and find my shop has been broken into and my safe was gone...they broke the concrete floor surrounding the safe and took the entire thing...I figure took them about 30-45 minutes of work(plus what ever time it took to open it) and they used tools they found in my shop...but got the thing out of there...and when they finally got it open (my only saving grace and to this day mental amusement) is the d**n thing was empty.
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My point? Well I have every one of my guns under lock and key...mags and ammo separate from the guns they match...but this will under no circumstance guarantee my guns are safe from those determined to obtain them. Criminals are just that criminals...they have no regard for laws or rights.
 @Illuminati  @aintno1special I did not at the time, but where I live it would not have made a difference unless an officer just happened to be in the area. My nearest neighbor is about 1/4 mile away and I live at the end of a mile long driveway. I do now have cameras and a few other methods of security...but all of my safes have been framed in with steel framing and bolted to the ground. That is why the safe was empty..I had just received it and had it installed (my guess is who helped uninstall it too), but had not had it framed in yet. Most passive forms of security will not 100% prevent loss...but I do what I can.
 @aintno1special If you had that many guns and other valuables, you should have safes and an alarm. Every safe can be broken into, but having it slows the thieves down giving the police time to respond to your alarm which you apparently did not have.