Cops: Man Stole Guns From Home, Sold Them to Pay Off Drug Debts

A Mansfield Township man has been jailed after police say he allegedly stole two firearms from a Hackettstown home and sold them to a drug dealer to pay off debts.

Just after 6 p.m. on April 6, police responded to a home on West Valley View Avenue for a report of theft, Sgt. Darren Tynan said. An investigation revealed sometime between March 29 and April 5, a Smith and Wesson model 459 handgun and a Sig Sauer model P220 handgun – previously locked inside a container – were stolen from the home, Tynan said.

Police learned the suspect was Ryan Whipple, 31, of Mansfield Township, and that he allegedly stole the guns from the home and sold them to another individual who he owed money for drugs, Tynan said.

On April 10, Whipple was charged with two counts of theft of moveable property, two counts of possession of a weapon for unlawful purpose, two counts of unlawful possession of a handgun, and two counts of possession of a weapon by a person convicted of a crime.

No charges of burglary or trespassing were lodged, and Tynan would not say if the victims were known to Whipple.

Whipple was lodged in the Warren County Correctional Facility in lieu of $50,000 bail.

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