Kim Rhode's shotgun found

Sparks

Nice to see a bit of good news for a change, even if it's not in Ireland. From the Associated Press:

Olympic medalist Kim Rhode reunited with stolen shotgun

PERRIS - An Olympic gold medalist shooter was elated to be reunited with her stolen shotgun Wednesday after it was recovered during the search of a parolee's home.

Kim Rhode had offered a $5,000 reward for the return of her shotgun, which was stolen from her pickup truck on Sept. 11 at a Lake Elsinore shopping center where she had stopped after making a promotional appearance.

"It's so good to have 'Old Faithful' back," Rhode told The Associated Press in a phone interview. "It's a wonderful day."

The Perazzi, 12-gauge shotgun was found during a probation search at a Perris residence last week, Riverside County sheriff's Sgt. Dennis Gutierrez said Wednesday.

Rhode said she was "totally floored" to get a call from police Tuesday night saying her shotgun, valued at between $20,000 and $35,000, had been found.

"You think, 'Twenty years from now, I might get it back,'" she said. "I'm relieved to have it back and all that history wasn't demolished. I'm thankful I can pass it on to my kids."

The shotgun was found underneath a bed still in its case, with Rhode's name and address embroidered inside. Missing were Olympic stickers that the suspect apparently removed, Gutierrez said.

"The lock was broken on the case," Rhode said. "They removed all the stickers on the stock of the gun to make it a little less identifiable, which is kind of a bummer because they're all from the Olympics and World Cups. I think they kind of knew what they had."

She has been competing with the shotgun for 18 years, winning Olympic gold, bronze and, most recently, silver at the Beijing Games.

The 29-year-old shooter, who is set to be married March 21 in her hometown of El Monte, Calif., plans to continue competing through the 2012 London Olympics. Rhode said she hopes to use the gun at a World Cup meet in Germany in May, her first international competition since Beijing.

"The gun looks like it's in full working order," she said. "I'm going to have it gone through and hopefully take it out and start shooting again."

Rhode said she was in the process of getting a new shotgun, but it would have taken up to nine months to have it custom made and fitted.

"One of the biggest lessons I learned in all of this is to have a backup (gun)," she said.

Gregorio Macias, 22, was booked on a probation violation and felony possession of stolen property, according to Deputy Herlinda Valenzuela. He was released on $25,000 bail over the weekend.

Macias is not believed to have stolen the shotgun from Rhode's truck, Valenzuela said. Two other suspects are still being sought.

Macias pleaded guilty in June 2007 to assault with a deadly weapon and was placed on three years' probation and ordered to spend 88 days on weekend jail time.

meathstevie

Indeed Sparks, she must have felt absolutely rotten with her gun gone...Must have felt like an amputation in a way.

k_d

imputation of what?

Nemesis

One of the lessons she learned is to have a backup gun?.

How about not leaving a shotgun in a pickup

Scoogles

If she was Irish she'd never get a gun again never mind getting her old one back if it was stolen from a vacant car

Tea drinker

Scoogles wrote: »

If she was Irish she'd never get a gun again never mind getting her old one back if it was stolen from a vacant car

Maybe true... I wonder what powers of search Gardai would have? I mean can they just show up at someones door - given past offences and "parole" and start searching? I think that Garda would be accused of human rights abuses on a par with Guantanamo.

Scoogles

i know tea drinker, but if the offender was irish he would have been let go again by the courts even after getting caught again to rob another car when he should have been locked up but that probably a discussion for another forum. Plus i think a paddy would have removed her name from the gun case as well as the stickers from the olympics, swan it down and left it in a green area, not under the bed

marlin vs

Just goes to show, even an olympic competitor can have her gun STOLEN: and not her fault, glad she got it back.

rrpc

marlin vs wrote: »

Just goes to show, even an olympic competitor can have her gun STOLEN: and not her fault, glad she got it back.

Not sure of the relevance of that. I'm not even sure if the fact of it being stolen is relevant here. This is the US we're talking about where firearms security is not one of the factors in getting a firearm.

It was a shotgun stolen from a car. Something that's happened here as well, which proves that leaving firearms in an unattended car is a bad idea.

If she'd been a duck hunter would it have made any difference? Apart from the value of the shotgun that is.

marlin vs

rrpc wrote: »

If she'd been a duck hunter would it have made any difference? Apart from the value of the shotgun that is.

That was the point I was trying to make, it can happen to anyone (sportsmen, policemen, soldiers.) anywhere,it's USUALLY not the owner's fault, but the owner alway's get's the blame.

rrpc

marlin vs wrote: »

That was the point I was trying to make, it can happen to anyone (sportsmen, policemen, soldiers.) anywhere,it's USUALLY not the owner's fault, but the owner alway's get's the blame.

Well I think in this case the owner is to blame. Certainly leaving a firearm in an unattended vehicle is (as I said above) not a good idea. Perhaps the culture in the US is partly at fault here, but more knowledgable people can put me right there.

The use the shotgun was being put to, or the status of the owner is irrelevant except possibly in terms of whether or not it makes the headlines.

Scoogles

rrpc, your on the ball. I know it may appear that we are blaming her for having the gun stolen but there is a responsibility on a gun holder to keep the firearm secure. Would she have left the value of the gun in the truck in view, $20,000 +, no, because it would be taken, (i'd nearly put the window in myself) and the insurance wouldn't pay her. Its interesting that the truck itself wasn't stolen just the firearm, which would suggest that the firearm was the target of the criminal not the actual truck, therfore it was in view.
I always think of the "Unbelievables Garda" sketch when they told people to keep the doors and windows secure, "sure you might as well and bring em in and make tea for em".

Sparks

While I don't agree that she secured it properly, there is the point that it was apparently a targeted theft - the shotgun wasn't in plain view, the thieves were apparently seen to target her truck very deliberately, and she's pretty well-known so it'd seem likely they were going for the shotgun because of it's value. Mind you, if I had a shotgun worth that much, I'd have at least had a guncabinet welded to the floor of the truck (it was some sort of pickup, so it's hardly hard to do that).

VeryHepCat

Hmmmm, Olympians aren't too bright these days. Oh well, at least she isn't smoking hemp! :pac:

and Wow! she is 29 years old now? Time is going by...