Time-to-Crime-1 of 4

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$2.00SUNDAY, DECEMBER 12, 2010

Gun: .32-caliber Harrington & Richardson revolver

Disappeared: Aug. 24, 1976, stolen from a home on Eastern Avenue SE in Grand Rapids.

Time to crime: 34 years, one month, nine days

Details: Kalamazoo police find the weapon Oct. 3, 2010, preceding a deadly chain of events.

BY JOHN AGAR

THE GRAND RAPIDS PRESS

P ropped up on the ground by

his elbows, dying of three bullets to his chest, Gabriel Hood looked at the gun he had just dropped .

The black .357-caliber Smith & Wesson lay in the dirt a few feet away.

Hood shifted his gaze to the police offi cer who had just shot him in self-defense, then back at the handgun he had pointed at the offi cer.

Hood would never spend the $1,258 in his left pants pocket.

And the gun?The path to this violent

showdown in March on the city’s Northeast Side is typical of how many weapons fi nd their way onto our streets: They are stolen and fall into the wrong hands, in this case a paroled fugitive with a violent past.

Over a six-month period, The Press conducted an in-depth investigation into the weapons being used in crimes both high-profi le and unpublicized.

The research found a sort of criminal time warp, where legitimate guns disappear for years, only to reappear in a more sinister

SEE GUNS, A18

IN TODAY’S PRESS: $167 IN SAVINGS (Exact value could be more, depending upon delivery area)

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Gun: Smith & Wesson 9 mm semi-automatic handgun

Disappeared: On or about Dec. 22, 2009, from a Lowell-area residence

Time to crime: Two months, 24 days

Details: Parole absconder Gabriel Hood, who pointed the gun at a police officer, was shot and killed on March 18.

PAUL M.KEEP

EDITOR

The police term refers to how long a weapon

disappears before resurfacing in the wrong hands. For each day of this series, gun traces and Press research detail the firearms’ stories.

TIME TO CRIME

The gun Gabriel Hood pointed at police before he was shot and killed.

READ THE STORIES BEHIND THESE GUNS: A17

A PRESS INVESTIGATION

GUNS GONE BADHOW LEGAL FIREARMS END UP IN THE HANDS OF CRIMINALS

PRESS PHOTO/REX LARSEN

Seized: Some of the handguns confiscated recently by the Grand Rapids Police Department.

TODAY: How legitimate guns end up on the street, details on guns involved in crimes. More on A16-18.

Where the weapons are: A map of illegal guns in Grand Rapids: A16

More from Editor Paul M. Keep on this project: A21

MONDAY: One gun has been used in five shootings in Grand Rapids — and it’s still on the streets.

TUESDAY: Ride along with Grand Rapids officers assigned to a federal ATF task force aimed at getting guns off the streets.

WEDNESDAY: A look at gun stores that have been hit by thieves — and the surprising places some of those guns have turned up.

ABOUT THIS SERIES

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Gun: .32-caliber revolver

Origin: Stolen in Flint in 1976

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Gun: .38-caliber Smith & Wesson

Origin: Stolen in Jackson, Fla., in 2008

Date: Feb. 5

Details: Migrant worker Socorro Hurtado-Garcia is upset with his former boss, Ed Rasch, following his layoff in December after working several years for the Alpine Township farmer. The two exchange words before Hurtado-Garcia fatally shoots Rasch, a witness says.

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Today the Press begins a unique partnership. We hope you will join us.

For months, reporter John Agar has been digging into the problem of illegal guns in our community.

But we also want to be part of the solution, and that’s where we need your help.

The Press is partnering with Silent Observer to help fund a gun-tip hotline.

Silent Observer will pay $250 to callers with information leading to the arrest of someone with an illegal gun. Call 616-774-2345. Tipsters stay strictly anonymous, even to those operating the program.

The effort is funded through a $5,000 grant The Press obtained from the Center on Media, Crime & Justice at City University of New York’s John Jay College of Criminal Justice. Silent Observer is providing supplemental money.

If you would like to donate, checks can be made to Silent Observer, earmarked for the “gun-tip hotline,” and mailed to Silent Observer, P.O. Box 230321, Grand Rapids, MI, 49523,or go online tobit.ly/SOhotline.

Together, we can all work to make this a safer community.

Why we’reteaming upwith Silent Observer

For about 15 years, graduates of Grand Rapids South High School’s Class of 1951 have met monthly for breakfast at a Cutlerville restaurant. A few years ago, Beverly Clark suggested they each donate $1 every get-together to Santa Claus Girls. This year’s collection: $210. Said Clark:

“I HAVE THREE CHILDREN, EIGHT GRANDCHILDREN AND TWO GREAT GRANDCHILDREN. I CAN AFFORD TO BUY THEM

PRESENTS, BUT THERE’S PEOPLE WHO CAN’T. I KNOW $210 IS NOT A LOT, BUT IT HELPS.”

WHY DO YOU GIVE? E-mail your Santa Claus Girls memories to [email protected].

Donate easily online or learn more at santaclausgirls.org.

Santa Claus Girls is a Press-sponsored charity that, since 1908, has aimed to ensure no child in Kent County is without a Christmas gift. Last year, thousands donated $179,504, and 13,460 children received presents.

See page A2 for ways to help and today’s list of donors.

SANTA GIRLS: WHY WE GIVE

616-774-2345REPORT AN ILLEGAL GUN:

PRESS PHOTO/JESSICA SCOTT

WHERE THERE’S‘SMOKE’ ...

There’s no fire, no tobacco — and the

beginning of a profit-making business. B1

Turn to for Over $25.00

in Coupon SAVINGS!

www.turntospartan.com3944735-01

A16 SUNDAY, DECEMBER 12, 2010 GUNS GONE BAD: A PRESS INVESTIGATION THE GRAND RAPIDS PRESS

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Gun: Smith & Wesson .357-caliber Magnumsix-shot revolver

Origin: Stolen in Wyomingin 2006

Date: July 24,just before midnight

Details: Police respond to a disturbance on Caulfield Avenue SW at a Latin King hangout. A 23-year-old suspect throws something over the fence as he runs. Officer Timothy Hoornstra finds the loaded .357-caliber Magnum. The suspect says he found the revolver just an hour earlier and "had the gun forprotection."

3

Gun: .357-caliber Ruger revolver with 6-inch barrel

Origin: Stolen in Wyoming on Nov. 1, 2008

Date: April 27, 11:32 a.m.

Details: Students at Burton Elementary and Middle School are kept indoors at lunch while police arrest a suspected Bemis Boys member at a nearby apartment complex. The suspect's girlfriend reported a domestic assault, but was reluctant to provide details "due to the subject next to her with a gun," Officer Esteban Moreno wrote. Billy Wayne Welch denies having a gun, but later admits hiding it in the basement. Welch says he bought the Ruger from "some guy in an alley."

7

Gun: .22-caliber Colt Frontier Scout pistol

Origin: Stolen in Grand Rapids in 1988

Date: Feb. 5, 2:59 p.m.

Details: Police execute a search warrant on Silver Avenue SE. Several dogs are fenced in back and police are concerned about pit bulls inside. A 42-year-old man tells police he found two "antique" guns when cleaning a business years ago. The Frontier Scout is loaded with six rounds. Another gun of unknown caliber is not loaded. Police also find marijuana. The man was applying for use of medical marijuana, reports said.

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Gun: .22-caliber Ruger Mark III

Date: July 21, 11 a.m.

Details: After the June 14 theft of a dozen guns at Al & Bob's Sports in Wyoming, police conduct surveillance of a house on Seventh Street NW. Grand Rapids Officer Thomas Warwick trails a minivan as it leaves and stops it. A passen-ger reaches into his pocket. Warwick, gun drawn, warns him he will be shot if he does so again. Police find the Ruger in the minivan. Jonqual Ernest Shaw, 18, tells police, "I should have made you shoot me."

10

Gun: Jennings T380,.380-caliber semi-automatic

Date: April 6, 10:45 p.m.

Details: Police stop a vehicle at Burton Street SE and Eastern Avenue. After both occupants exit, an officer sees a loaded handgun on the driver's side. One subject, here from Mississippi for a niece's medical procedure, said he brought his grandmother's "house gun" because "family had told him that a lot of people were getting robbed in Grand Rapids."

11

Gun: Iver Johnson's Arms and Cycle Works Model 32 Safety Hammer five-shot revolver

Date: April 17, 3:18 a.m.

Details: Officer Timothy Johnson and others respond to a report that a car's back-seat passenger is waving a handgun out the window. The driver tells police he and a friend had gone to a bar, went for some fast food, and were joined by two others. The driver said he felt the suspect "bumping the back of his driver's seat" when police pulled the car over. Police find the revolver with four live rounds and a spent case in the cylinder. Pieces of a McDonald's cheeseburger are on the gun.

13

Gun: 9 mm Taurus Millennium

Origin: Unknown,serial numbers etched off

Date: Aug. 3, 4:10 a.m.

Details: Officer Benjamin Hawkins responds to shots on Eastern Avenue SE near Bates Street. Hawkins draws his gun and orders Wilbert Burse, 48, to the ground. "He instead turned his body away from me and began to go to his waist band," Hawkins said. Burse threw a gun, found with three rounds in the magazine, before being subdued. He told police he saw another man hide the 9 mm and he planned to sell it.

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Gun: LLAMA MAXII, .45-caliber

Origin: Stolen fromOsceola County

Date: 2:01 a.m., July 20, 2009

Details: Officer Gene Tobin responds to call of a man with a gun outside the Elks Club, 1546 Linden Ave. SE. A witness whispers: "The guy in that car with the gun, the white car, right there, going down the street." Police pursue. When the car stops a rear passenger runs. Four others get out, but one is angry: "I don't even know that man." A man in the car allegedly passed a hand-gun to the suspect who ran. The suspect is caught. Police find the loaded gun.

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Gun: Smith & Wesson, .32-caliber six-shot revolver, 6-inch barrel

Date: July 12, 2009, 10:57 p.m.

Details: Police interns hear a gunshot at Dickinson Park. Police hold suspect James Omar Staten, 17, at gunpoint. Staten admits he has a gun. He said he used to be a gang member and had "problems with rivals." The year before, he was adjudicated after witnesses said he shot at a vehicle with a .38-caliber handgun. He said he bought that gun for $130 on the street.

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Gun: Ruger P89 9 mm

Date: March 3, 1:44 p.m.

Details: Police respond to report of a man with a gun at Eastern Avenue SE and Oakdale Street. Willie Darel LaGrone, 19, said he had a dispute with someone who called police. When police follow footprints in the snow, LaGrone watched "intently and started breathing heavily," Officer Thomas Gootjes wrote. "Right on top of the snow was a silver/black semi-automatic handgun." It had seven rounds in the magazine, another in the chamber. LaGrone said he had the gun for protection.

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Gun: .357-caliber Amadeo Rossi revolver

Origin: Reported stolen in Saginaw, later re-registered to the same man, who since has died.

Date: Nov. 27, 2009, 12:23 a.m.

Details: Officer Susan Clare stops a vehicle after witnesses say occupants brandished a firearm near 33rd Street SE and Eastern Avenue. Police find the gun, handle up, nose down, in the console.

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Gun: .45-caliber Ruger

Origin: Stolen in Grand Rapids

Date: Feb. 13, 12:55 p.m.

Details: Police search for a stolen gun in a home on Wyndham Hill Drive NE, and find it in the center console of the Jeep outside. "I figured you would," suspect Bryant Koon, 26, told police. Accord-ing to reports, "He kept saying, 'I know I shouldn't have the gun because I'm a convicted felon.'" Koon, a parolee, is on absconder status, state records show.

12

Gun: Unknown

Date: Oct. 14, 2009, 2 a.m.

Details: Mallory Mathews, 21, and her boyfriend, Chad Lax, are shot in a car outside their home on National Avenue SW home. Marcus Harrison and Wendell Taylor followed them from her job at Parkway Tropics because Lax kept $2,000 instead of buying them marijuana. Mathews is an innocent victim in a "brutal execution," a judge says. Detectives think the gun is in Saginaw, where the suspects lived.

9

Guns: Smith & Wesson .357-caliber six-shot revolver, MAK90 rifle,Remington scoped rifle

Origin: Stolen in Kent Countyin 2004

Date: May 1

Details: Grand Rapids police and federal agents search a TMG gang house on Quigley Boulevard SE. Police find the guns and five pounds of marijuana. A suspect tells Officer David Gillem he was aware of "so old" weapons in the house, but was only there to make city-ordered repairs.

4

Guns: Lorcin L380, .380-caliber handgun

Date: March 14, 3:10 a.m.

Details: A gunshot victim is dropped off at Saint Mary's Healthcare and the red Chevy Impala, smelling of burnt gun powder, leaves. Officer Gene Tobin spots the car at Jeffer-son Avenue SE and Hall Street. The fleeing vehicle strikes a curb and hits several parked cars. Occupants tell police Tory Overstreet was shot near Azucar night club. The driver, Kendrick Marquise Deshon Smith, 20, calls himself an "idiot" when he "panicked and fled." Police find the gun and crack cocaine in the car.

5

Guns: Smith & Wesson 629, a .44-caliber six-shot revolver

Origin: Registered to aGrand Rapids man who has since died

Date: May 31, 3:24 a.m

Details: Officer Jason Sotke responds to a report of a man with a handgun. The man threatens a person on the phone and shows a witness the revolver. The witness calls police and keeps the line open while riding with the suspect. Police stop the car on Oakdale Street SE and find the Smith & Wesson covered by a T-shirt. Driver Weldon Palmer, 32, denied he intended to harm anyone.

6

WHERE FIREARMS WERE FOUND

Grand Rapids police confiscated 382 weapons in 2009, most of them illegal handguns. The map pinpoints the location of each recovery. More than one weapon was seized in some locations. Highlighted sites are examplesof cases encountered in both 2009 and this year.

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Gun: Harrington & Richardson Inc. .32-caliber revolver

Origin: Stolen in Flint in 1976

Date: April 10

Details: Police find the loaded handgun in a 15-year-old student's locker at East Kentwood High School. "He said he got it from a fellow gangbanger," said Kent County Sheriff's Sgt. Marc Burns. A judge orders the student into a care program.

2

Gun: .38-caliber Smith & Wesson

Origin: Stolen in Jackson, Fla., in 2008

Date: Feb. 5

Details: Migrant worker Socorro Hurtado-Garcia is upset with his former boss, Ed Rasch, following his layoff in December after working several years for the Alpine Township farmer. The two exchange words before Hurtado-Garcia fatally shoots Rasch, a witness says.

1

SOURCE: Grand Rapids Police records

PRESS GRAPHIC/ED RIOJAS

BY JOHN AGAR


GRAND RAPIDS — The videotaped images are harrowing: A gunman in a speeding car, fi ring at pursuing police.

“He shot back at us!” Kent County Sheriff ’s Detective Randy Kieft tells a dispatcher via cell phone. “Bad guy shot about five shots out the back window!”

The dispatcher replies, “We got all kinds of people on the way.”

Thus begins a 25-minute pursuit through Kalamazoo and St. Joseph counties. As sirens blare, the rapid pop, pop of gunshots is heard as the fugitive’s car, going 95 mph, forces traffi c to the side.

“Shots fi red, shots fi red ... they’re just fi ring at us!” a deputy radioes. “Still fi ring at us. He just shot at a semi. ... He fi red a lot of shots at us.”

The images, captured Oct. 29 on a police cruiser dash-cam, illustrate a worst-case scenario when stolen guns fall into the wrong hands.

That’s the day John Wesley Metzel-burg — a Kent County man accused in a burglary spree that netted 29 guns — allegedly fi red at the offi cers.

“He’s trying to murder policeSEE SHOTS, A18

BY JOHN AGAR


GRAND RAPIDS — Samuel Simmons long ago forgot about the

.32-caliber revolver stolen from his home on Grand Rapids’ Southeast Side.

When told the Harrington & Rich-ardson handgun had been found, he paused.

“A .32 revolver?”“What?” said his wife, Cheri. “That

was 30 years ago.”Thirty-four years, one month and

nine days to be exact.Simmons’ gun disappeared from

his Eastern Avenue home on Aug. 24, 1976. Gerald Ford was president. Be-tamax and VHS video players were being released.

When the weapon fi nally turned up two months ago in Kalamazoo, it preceded a chain of events that led to the death of a father of three .

Department of Public Safety offi -cers seized the gun during an Oct. 3 traffi c stop at North Church and West Frank streets.

Officer Joseph Boutell saw open alcohol in the car. After taking the 19-year-old driver and two others out, he found the loaded revolver inside. The driver, Jamar Darion Stegall, of Kalamazoo, ran but soon was caught, police said.

Stegall was charged with carrying a concealed weapon, resisting police and driving on a suspended license.

Because the gun had been stolen so long ago — the “time to crime” for guns in Michigan averages just under 13 years, statistics show — Kalamazoo police issued a news release.

Stegall’s name was not released. The gun was unusual, not the arrest.

That would change when tragedy struck 16 days later.

Stegall was out on bond on Oct. 19, still driving, when Kalamazoo police tried to stop his car near downtown. Stegall allegedly sped away, ran a red light at Vine Street and struck a vehicle headed south on Westnedge Avenue .

Brian James Arra, 45, of Portage, owner of Arra Insurance Agency in downtown Kalamazoo, was killed.

It was such a devastating crash, Arra did not stand a chance.

“That could have been anybody,” Police Lt. Scott Merlo said.

Authorities have submitted the gun to state police for ballistics testing, to see if it was used in other crimes during its 34-year absence.

Simmons, the original owner, hopes it will come back from testing clean, and that perhaps it was stored somewhere for years. He had forgot-ten about it until a Press reporter showed up at his rural home in Way-land recently.

Simmons bought the gun at a dis-count chain that stopped selling hand-guns more than 30 years ago.

He believes someone all those years ago had to know he had the revolver and a bolt-action 12-gauge shotgun, passed down from his great-grandfather, inside his home. There were no signs of a burglary.

The 1976 police report on the theft says, “(Simmons) states that he keeps gun under his bed. Last night, he

noticed gun was not there.”Two days later, an offi cer wrote:

“Talked with Sam Simmons who stat-ed that he does not have any suspects or additional information concerning the theft of his gun. No investigative leads.”

Simmons, owner of Diversified Industrial Enterprises Inc. in Grand Rapids, never replaced the weapon.

“I bought it from Kmart, a Kmart special,” he said.

BY JOHN AGAR


LOWELL TOWNSHIP — Until he moved his bedroom furniture, David McClain had no idea his family’s three guns were gone.

There were no signs of forced entry. Nothing else was missing.

He called police the next morning, as required by Michigan law.

Less than a month after the Feb. 11 report, his Smith & Wesson 9 mm semi-automatic pistol was in the hands of a parolee — pointed at a Grand Rapids police offi cer.

It is unclear how Gabriel Hood, with a record of armed rob-bery and drug charges, obtained the gun.

What is remarkable is how quickly he ob-tained it.

The gun’s “time to crime” was less than three months, accord-ing to public records and internal police re-

ports . That’s faster than 97 percent of the thousands of guns traced in Michi-gan in 2009, federal records show.

The state average “time to crime” — a police term for how long a stolen weapon disappears before reappear-ing in a sinister context — is almost 13 years.

The McClains did not realize the Smith & Wesson and other guns were

missing from their cases until they moved furniture in preparation for a new mattress. The weapons were last seen Dec. 22, 2009.

The couple had a family gather-ing . They suspected troubled young relatives could have taken the guns, each valued at $250. Another fam-ily member had guns taken from his Grandville home .

The McClains declined requests for comment.

Hood — a 2008 parolee who ab-sconded and was wanted on drug charges — certainly knew he was go-ing back to prison in March when police stopped his moped.

He had marijuana, heroin and $1,258

in his pockets. The McClains’ 9 mm semi-automatic was tucked in his waistband, loaded.

When Offi cer Donald Lake stopped Hood and his passenger, Shaykila Sledge, neither had identifi cation and both gave fake names, according to police reports.

“At one point during our conversa-tion, I observed Hood touch his right side waist band,” wrote Lake, a 15-year veteran. “I knew from training and experience ... that people safety-check concealed fi rearms.”

Lake tried to arrest Hood. Police-cruiser video shows the 33-year-old spinning free and ending up bare-chested, losing a fl eece jacket during a brief struggle. Hood reached for his gun as he fl ed toward a 7-foot wooden fence he could not scale.

“Hood then turned to face me ex-tending his right hand to meet his left hand pointing the fi rearm at me again,” Lake wrote.

Lake can be heard on the dashboard camera’s audio repeatedly telling Hood to drop the gun : “Drop it. Drop it or I’m going to kill you.”

Lake fi red fi ve times. The shooting was ruled justifi able homicide.

Police investigated the theft of the McClains’ guns, but no charges have been fi led.

TIME TO CRIME: 34 YEARS, 1 MONTH, 9 DAYS

TIME TO CRIME: 2 MONTHS, 24 DAYS

COURTESY PHOTO

Recovered: This is a police photo of the .32-caliber revolver seized during a traffic stop in Kalamazoo.

PRESS PHOTO/DARREN BREEN

Victim of theft: Samuel Simmons, owner of Diversified Industrial Enterprises Inc. in Grand Rapids, reported his handgun stolen in 1976. He suspects someone knew he kept the weapon at his house.

PRESS NEWS SERVICE PHOTO

Deadly crash: A little more than two weeks after police recovered the stolen gun, the 19-year-old accused of carrying the weapon was involved in this Kalamazoo crash, which left a 45-year-old man dead.


LOST DECADESREVOLVER STOLEN IN GRAND RAPIDS TURNS UP 34 YEARS LATER

IN KALAMAZOO — BUT THAT’S NOT THE END OF THE STORY

FROM THEFT TO FELON TO DEATH

Gabriel Hood

COURTESY PHOTO

Evidence: What police found after Gabriel Hood was shot and killed after pointing this gun at police.

BY NATE REENS


GRAND RAPIDS — Chris Cam-eron’s belief in anonymity provided to Silent Observer tipsters is so strong she lobbied lawmakers in 2006 to pass a law protecting the program’s records.

How the tips are delivered — through phone calls, text messages or the Web — makes no difference, said Cameron, Silent Observer’s ex-ecutive director.

“It’s a guarantee that we make and something we don’t take lightly, be-cause anonymity is so important to what happens here,” she said. “It’s the most vital pledge because people could be reluctant to come forward if they think anyone knows who they are.

“That would mean crucial informa-tion wouldn’t come in to investigators that we’re trying to assist.”

There is no caller ID on program phones, and phone numbers from text tips are encrypted, as is any informa-tion on computer servers. The same is true for e-mail addresses from infor-mation submitted via the Web.

The submissions are passed to po-lice for follow-up, Cameron said.

Tipsters are assigned an identifi -cation number when they provide details on crimes, and it is incumbent on them to follow up to see if an ar-rest is made and reward authorized. The approved payment is collectible

after a suspect is bound to trial on felony charges.

A special gun-tip program begin-ning today in conjunction with The Press pays $250 and requires only that an arrest be made.

Cameron said tip providers are tracked using their unique numbers and never have to provide additional information. Rewards can be obtained by visiting an area bank that has a relationship with the program .

“They can go through a drive-through and never have to leave the car,” Cameron said.

‘Shots fired, shots fired ... they’re just

firing at us!’

Three ways to help,all of them anonymous

YEAR 2010 2009 2008TIPS 490 586 620ARRESTS 175 138 157WEAPONS RECOVERED 21 15 19REWARDS OK’D $12,725 $12,425 $13,435REWARDS PAID $7,775 $5,475 $5,285RECOVERED ITEMS $262,497 $652,148 $446,741

Silent Observer stats

BY THE NUMBERS

REPORT ILLEGAL GUNS: 616-774-2345

In addition to phoning, tipsters can:

Go online: www.silentobserver.org

Text: Text Tip138 plus your message to CRIMES (274637). Keyword TIP138 must be the first line of the message.

Submitting tips

COURTESY PHOTOS

Abrupt ending: A police video shows an officer with his weapon drawn after a 25-minute pursuit during which John Wesley Metzelburg allegedly shot at police with one of the guns he is suspected of stealing. Watch the video on mlive.com/grand-rapids

Suspect: Police began searching for John Wesley Metzelburg, above, after searching his home in Grattan Towsnship. Among the allegedly stolen items seized were the guns below.

Police seize guns atKent County house, then

are fired upon in car chase


CONTINUED FROM A1

context. Police call it the “time to crime.”

Among the fi ndings:Most guns linked to local �crimes originated here, often taken in burglaries or stolen by family or friends desperate for cash.Some weapons circulate for �decades. In two cases, hand-guns stolen 34 years ago re-appeared this year in West Michigan, one in an East Kenwood High School lock-er, loaded, and the other in a traffi c stop that was the fi rst incident in a deadly chain of events in October.In rare instances, the time �to crime is violently quick. The .357 that Gabriel Hood pointed at a cop on March 18 disappeared from a Low-ell Township home less than three months earlier.Some guns are used more �than once. One has been tied to at least fi ve shootings, in-cluding the killing of a Grand Rapids college student robbed for $10. That fi rearm remains unrecovered.And some guns travel. One, �stolen from a Rockford busi-ness a decade ago, turned up two years ago in an Iowa school locker. Another, taken from the same business, was used last month by a teen who fired the .44 Magnum at detectives in southeast Michigan.The findings are derived

from scores of interviews and thousands of pages of docu-ments — some public, many not.

In a number of cases, author-ities suspect gun owners report the firearms stolen and sell them on the street. They have high value there and, as durable objects, no depreciation, said Sgt. Terry McGee, a Grand Rapids police detective.

“Even when they’re used in a crime, a lot of (criminals) hang onto them,” McGee said.

“Guns are very valued with today’s way of doing things.”

A growing concern for policeIn the spring, Grand Rapids

police responded to a rash of shootings, but bad marksman-ship kept casualties limited. Those incidents and questions about Hood’s gun sparked The Press’ review, but authorities already were concerned. Grand Rapids police and federal agents launched an internal investigation two years ago.

“The question was, ‘How do we know we don’t have people buying large numbers of guns out of state (where laws are less stringent) and bringing them to Michigan?’” Grand Rapids Po-lice Capt. Jeff Hertel said.

While the federal-local study was not exhaustive, investiga-tors looked at the source of 110 guns seized from Jan. 1, 2007, to April 7, 2008.

Of the 64 that could be traced, 38 originated in Michi-gan — most of those from West Michigan.

More importantly, there was no single person making mul-tiple purchases — what police call a “straw buyer” — for con-victs needing guns. Suspects 18 to 21 years old constituted

the largest age group possess-ing illegal guns.

And most guns were stolen from homes — often many years earlier.

Just last week, Detroit ho-micide detectives recovered a .50-caliber Desert Eagle — a $1,500 revolver popular on movie sets for its intimidating look —that was reported stolen nearly seven years ago from a home on Grand Rapids’ South-east Side.

The owner told police his stepdaughter, who was strug-gling with alcohol and drugs, had moved out three weeks before the gun went missing. The stepdaughter, then an 11th-grader, reportedly sold the gun to a friend, according to a po-lice report.

It’s unclear yet if it has been used in a crime.

Eighty percent of the thou-sands of guns recovered annu-ally in Michigan have been on the street at least three years, according to a 2009 study by the federal Bureau of Alco-hol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

The average is nearly 13 years.

Cooperating with ATFGrand Rapids police recov-

ered 382 illegal weapons in 2009, most of them pistols and revolvers.

This spring Grand Rapids police approached the ATF for help responding to a “rash of gun violence,” bureau spokes-man Donald Dawkins said.

That led to pairing police and federal agents on patrol,

to bring federal cases, which carry more severe penalties.

The guns they fi nd range in all shapes and size.

McGee, the Grand Rapids detective, showed a .357 revolv-er with a laser sight: “A shots-fi red call. Offi cers got there and found the gun on the scene.”

It is among a number of handguns taken recently from suspects : a pink .22-caliber semiautomatic, a .44-caliber re-volver, a beat-up .22, its handle gone.

Offi cers found the last one when they stopped a couple of teens who were looking in cars. The small gun, easy to conceal, resembled a broken toy.

“It would still fi re, though,” McGee said. “Big, small, they all get your attention.”

Some suspects go to dis-turbing lengths to obtain their weapons.

Two years ago, sheriff ’s de-tectives investigated a suicide on public land in northern Kent County. A man was found dead in the woods, but there was no gun. A suicide note was found at the man’s house, however, and determined to be valid .

Someone had found the body and taken the weapon. It has not been recovered.

Michigan law requires that lost or stolen guns be reported. That doesn’t always happen. If the owner suspects a family member took it, it won’t always be reported. In some cases, the previous owners are unaware the gun was missing. Or so they may say.

“There’s no doubt in our minds that some guns have

been traded by people and exchanged for narcotics,” said McGee, the Grand Rapids detective. “You get a hold of people, ‘Oh geez, we weren’t aware it was missing.’”

He said it is diffi cult to prove a homeowner intentionally failed to report a weapon miss-ing. He could not recall charges being fi led in such cases.

More often, legal owners are legitimate victims.

When crack cocaine took over their lives, Cedar Springs residents Simon and Gennie Beatty burglarized more homes than they could recall, a pros-ecutor wrote. Their favorite target was fi rearms.

From March 12 to April 6, 2009, the pair stole 17 handguns and long guns across West Michigan.

Afterward, they sold the firearms in Indiana, accord-ing to an indictment. The pair pleaded guilty to burglaries in five counties. His earliest release is 2023, hers is 2021. The federal government also tacked on concurrent fi rearms sentences.

Guns trending younger Grand Rapids police Offi cer

Gene Tobin spent seven years on the night shift.

“I can’t remember in my amount of time here ever hav-ing this amount of guns, hand-guns,” he said.

He has seen 14-year-olds packing. That’s his other con-cern, one widely shared in law enforcement — young guns.

A deadly scenario played out in late October, when friends gathered for a 16-year-old’s birthday party on Grand Rap-ids’ Southeast Side. After an argument in the driveway, San-qua Cummings, 16, allegedly shot and killed Bobby Hughes, 17.

The .22-caliber handgun has not been recovered.

“These are kids shooting kids,” Wyoming Police Chief

James Carmody said. “A 16-year-old shooting a

17-year-old at a birthday party? It’s a 16-year-old. Are we too conditioned to be shocked by it?”

Retired Detective Phil Betz offers a perspective from some-one who spent nearly 32 of his 34 years in law enforcement in Grand Rapids.

“When I fi rst started work-ing narcotics 25 years ago, we did a search warrant and re-covered a handgun. That was something. We talked about that for a while.

“Now, if you do a search war-rant and don’t fi nd weapons, that’s unusual.”

E-mail: [email protected]

0

500

1,000

1,500

2,000

2,500

3,000

1 year 2 years 3 years or more

2,637

83 98 98 193 159

Recovery rate of firearmsTime-to-crime rates for firearmswith a Michigan recovery, 2009

Michigan average time-to-crime: 12.72 yearsNational average time-to-crime: 10.77 years

SOURCE: Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; Office of Strategic Intelligence and Information

PRESS GRAPHIC

Guns that go missingMost traceable guns recovered in crimes in 2009 had beenmissing for more than three years.

CONTINUED FROM A17

offi cers,” said Sgt. Marc Burns, as the Kent County sheriff ’s detective views particularly in-tense gunfi re in the video.

“He’s over there, on the pas-senger side, shooting at them. You really can’t look at that vid-eo and not see Metzelburg was trying to kill police offi cers.”

The “time to crime” for a sto-len weapon — a police term for how long it takes to turn up in a misdeed — is usually years. The handgun Metzelburg al-legedly fi red could have been used within a matter of weeks, even days.

Authorities are trying to track down the last registered owner. The gun had not been reported stolen, though police suspect it was.

The search for Metzelburg, wanted for a rash of home in-vasions, began when deputies checked his home on Old Beld-ing Road in Grattan Township and he fled on foot. A large amount of stolen property was found at his residence.

Among the guns recovered: a Winchester 20-gauge shotgun, a Remington 11-87 semi-auto-matic rifl e, a Ruger M77 Mark II rifl e with scope, and a Knight 50-caliber muzzleloader,

Kent sheriff ’s detectives caught up with Metzelburg in southern Kalamazoo County the

next day. Kieft, in an unmarked car, spotted Metzelburg’s vehi-cle and began following when the suspect allegedly broke out the rear window and emptied the handgun.

At least one of the bullets hit the cruiser’s windshield and a detective, Dave Schmukel, was

hit in the hand by shrapnel.

Metzelburg, 35, and his wife, D e n i s e , 4 2 ,were arrested after their ve-hicle crashedin northern St.Joseph County. They face mul-tiple charges, including at-

tempted murder.Kalamazoo County Under-

sheriff Paul Matyas described the chase as a “running gun battle,” but police did not re-turn fi re because of danger to others.

“In the end, he just ran out of ammunition,” Matyas said.

Burns said it was fortunate no one except the Metzelburgs was seriously injured.

“It goes without saying, the guns that were stolen would’ve entered the criminal world, and everything that goes along with that, all the covert activity,” Burns said.

GUNS MANY VANISH FOR YEARS, ONLY TO REAPPEAR

SHOTS ‘HE JUST RAN OUT OF AMMO’

Denise Lee Metzelburg

‘Trying to kill’:A bullet hole in a detective’s windshield.

COURTESY PHOTO

John Agar has worked for The Grand Rapids Press nearly 15 years, covering the police, state and federal courts and

politics.For this

report, he reviewed thousands of pages of police r e p o r t s and court

filings, and interviewed investigators and road-pa-trol offi cers from numer-ous police agencies — at the local, state and federal level — in Michigan.

A West Michigan native, he has worked at newspa-pers in Allegan and Hol-land during his 22-year journalism career.

Agar, 49, and his wife, Jennifer, live in the Zee-land area with their three children.

About the reporter

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