Gun Stolen From Car Belonged to Hayward Officer

A gun that was stolen from a car in Oakland on Wednesday morning belonged to a Hayward police officer, police said today. Oakland police spokeswoman Johnna Watson said on Wednesday that the firearm was stolen near a shopping plaza at Fruitvale Avenue and East Ninth Street, a few blocks from the Fruitvale BART station, at about 10 a.m. on Wednesday. It belonged to an officer from a law enforcement agency other than the Oakland Police Department, but Watson said she didn’t know which agency.

Hayward police spokesman Sgt. Ryan Cantrell said today that it was a Hayward officer’s gun that was taken but declined to release the officer’s name or provide any other information. The theft was at least the third incident involving a gun stolen from law enforcement in the Bay Area in recent months.

Last Friday morning, University of California police Chief Margo Bennett had her gun, badge, department-issued laptop and other items stolen from her car as she jogged at Point Isabel in Richmond. And authorities say a gun stolen from a federal Bureau of Land Management agent’s car was used to kill 32-year-old Kathryn Steinle at San Francisco’s Pier 14 on July 1.

Related:

• Expert Witnesses Say Bullet Likely Ricocheted Off Pier 14 Before Fatally Striking Woman
• Thieves Smash UC Berkeley Police Chief’s SUV to Steal Gun, Badge

By Bay City News