Nashua Felon Arrested On Stolen Firearm Charge

NASHUA, NH — A Nashua felon is facing charges after being accused of stealing a handgun from an unlocked car last year.

At about 12:30 a.m. on Dec. 6, 2022, police were sent to the River Casino on High Street for a theft report. A man in his early 30s said a Smith & Wesson M&P 2.0 9 mm handgun had been stolen from the center console of his Toyota Camry.

“(The complainant) could not recall if the car was left secured or unsecured,” the detective wrote.

About an hour before the gun was reported stolen, another officer received a text message from a source accusing Michael Gary Woodside, 55, a felon in the city, of attempting to sell a gun to a family member. However, the affidavit said, the source said he might still be walking around with the stolen handgun in the Water Street area of the city. The source refused to provide the family member's identity, but the officer noted Water Street was near the casino.

More than five weeks later, a third officer spoke to another source on Spring Street who claimed a 47-year-old man possessed a black 9 mm pistol and “attempted to sell the firearm, but no one would buy it because it was believed to be stolen,” an affidavit said. Thirty minutes later, the source said the man claimed Woodside sold him the gun a few weeks prior and found it while breaking into vehicles, the report stated. Later, he returned the gun to Woodside after he got out of jail, the affidavit said.

The detective wrote the man died of a suspected drug overdose on Feb. 18.

Four months later, Woodside was found on Chestnut Street, told about the gun investigation, and he agreed to meet with detectives. The report said he “made full admissions to stealing the firearm from an unlocked vehicle” from the center console of a car. He was accused of admitting to selling it to the man for $100 and the man later sold it to an unknown party for $400.

According to a records check, Woodside was a felon due to a theft conviction in Hillsborough County Superior Court South in March 2009, and a warrant was issued against him. He was arrested on June 26 on theft by unauthorized taking-stolen firearm and convicted felons-gun possession. Since he was out on bail on a receiving stolen property charge from October 2022, a breach charge was added.

Woodside declined to provide a statement after being arrested, a report stated.

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