Another Handgun Lost to Burglary

Close on the heels of a home burglary reported Monday in which three guns including a semi-automatic pistol were stolen, another case comes to light in which a .45-caliber semi-auto pistol was taken in a residential break-in.

This burglary actually occurred earlier, on July 25, and also cost the victim thousands of dollars worth of jewelry, watches and collectible coins.

At 12:50 p.m. that day, police were dispatched to answer a burglar alarm from the home in the 2600 block of 82nd Street. The homeowner, also alerted by his alarm company, had already arrived before officers did, and he said he had entered through his wide-open back door.

He explained that he'd found a window pried open – and that his alarm system activates only when a door is opened or a window is broken. Despite the broken lock on the window, it wouldn't have triggered the alarm.

He theorized that the alarm went off only when the burglar or burglars left through the back door. An area check by police turned up no sign of any suspects.

As to his property, he found several rooms rummaged through, and in the master bedroom his Colt Model 1911 .45-caliber pistol and its case were missing from the upper shelf of the closet.

The Colt 1911 was from that date until recently the standard service pistol of the United States military. It has been in continuous production since its adoption, but the owner did not know whether it was an antique or a newer series and did not know whether or not it was loaded.

Rings, watches and coins were also missing from the room, and a lockbox in another room had been opened. Nothing appeared to be missing from it, but it contained personal financial information, so the owner canceled his credit cards just in case account numbers might have been stolen.

Police conducted a canvass of the area but no one who was home at the time had seen or heard anything suspicious or unusual.