Trooper's shotgun stolen

Don't we have a policy that would have prevented this from happening?

SPRING HILL -- A Spring Hill man has been arrested on charges that he broke into a Florida Highway Patrol vehicle and stole a trooper's loaded shotgun.

Gregory Lamantia, 20, lives on the same street as the trooper, according to an arrest report. On Oct. 20, he broke into the marked 2006 Crown Victoria cruiser and stole the loaded 12-gauge Remington shotgun, which was on the backseat, the report states.

Lamantia brought the gun home and hid it under his bed. Later, he sold it for $150 to a person who did not know it was stolen, according to the report. The shotgun has been recovered and returned to the FHP.

Lamantia, who told investigators that he has an addiction to prescription pain medicine, was arrested on charges of armed burglary and grand theft.

Yeah, the gun probably should not have been unsecured in plain view with no one around.
BUT, this will happen when the agency equipment and policy make you move the gun back and forth (and encourage you to forget to move it).

The current FHP shotgun mounting method and policy could use some improvement.

Some agencies have locking gun racks mounted to the inside/underside of the truck lid and allow the shotgun to be stored there. This is good equipment and policy because:

1. The guns are out of sigh, out of mind (to not encourage theft or attempts), and also easy to access when needed.
2. Allowing the gun to be in the trunk all the time prevents having to move it from the passenger compartment to the trunk or home at the end of the shift. This helps prevent the officer from forgetting to move the gun to the proper stoage location.
3. If the trunk is comprimised or opened, the bad guy still should not be able to get the gun out of the locked rack.

Don't we have a policy that would have prevented this from happening?

SPRING HILL -- A Spring Hill man has been arrested on charges that he broke into a Florida Highway Patrol vehicle and stole a trooper's loaded shotgun.

Gregory Lamantia, 20, lives on the same street as the trooper, according to an arrest report. On Oct. 20, he broke into the marked 2006 Crown Victoria cruiser and stole the loaded 12-gauge Remington shotgun, which was on the backseat, the report states.

Lamantia brought the gun home and hid it under his bed. Later, he sold it for $150 to a person who did not know it was stolen, according to the report. The shotgun has been recovered and returned to the FHP.

Lamantia, who told investigators that he has an addiction to prescription pain medicine, was arrested on charges of armed burglary and grand theft.

Yep. I read in the press, so it HAS to be true. No need in doing an investigation or giving the trooper any credit. Let's save the taxpayers some money, put the newspaper article in his file and mark it SUSTAINED and move on to the next case. I say we all come on here and bash the trooper for being negligent because the newspaper said he was. And they got there information from the guy who stole the shotgun, so it has to be accurate.

Of all people, LEOs def know the press never has anything right (nor do they try to get it right).

On the back seat??? What happened to the shotgun rack?

On the back seat??? What happened to the shotgun rack?

Where did you hear that it was on the backseat? Or are you just going by what the press reported? We need your proof, please.

Troopers bashing Troopers. Ahhhhhh, all is normal in the world.

Troopers bashing Troopers. Ahhhhhh, all is normal in the world.


Yup. Sad isn't it.