LF: Police Chief Leaves Gun in Bathroom, Cops Blame Innocent Man for Stealing it

Title: Police Chief Leaves Gun in Bathroom, Cops Blame Innocent Man for Stealing it
Source: News Maven
URL Source: https://newsmaven.io/pinacnews/cops ... ing-it-Dd1ep0Jj80SIbe4W3tgP2Q/
Published: Jul 25, 2019
Author: Carlos Miller
Post Date: 2019-07-28 09:33:54 by Deckard
Keywords: None
Views: 1481
Comments: 11

An innocent man was arrested and his children seized by the government after he was falsely accused of stealing the gun.

A California police chief who left a loaded gun inside a bathroom stall of a fast food restaurant ordered police to search the home of a man who not only did not have the gun, he was nowhere near the El Pollo Loco where she had left it.

But he was arrested anyway along with his wife on unrelated charges after San Luis Obispo police searched his home without a warrant and determined his house was messy. His kids were also seized by the county.

San Luis Obispo Police Chief Deanna Cantrell also violated city policy by waiting two hours to report her gun stolen, resulting in her having to pay a $1,600 fine.

Nevertheless, San Luis Obispo City Manager Derek Johnson praised Cantrell for her "integrity throughout the incident," according to Cal Coast Times.

But the facts reveal incompetency more than anything.

San Luis Obispo Police Chief Deanna Cantrell

Chief Cantrell left the loaded Glock in the bathroom of the El Pollo Loco around noon on July 10. When she realized had left the gun behind, she returned to the restaurant and reviewed surveillance video, determining three people had entered the bathroom after her.

The chief said two of people were still in the restaurant and did not have the gun so apparently they were unlawfully searched.

That left the third man who was obviously clean-shaven in the video which somehow led police to the home of a man with a full beard and mustache.

According to the Cal Coast Times:

The last person, who was the first to enter the restroom after Cantrell left, was not in the restaurant when the chief returned to look for her firearm. The man, later identified as 30-year-old Skeeter Carlos Mangan of Los Osos, was shown in the video – clean-shaven, balding and wearing a black jacket and shorts.

Shortly before 7 p.m., a group of five detectives were dispatched to a home on O’Connor Way after an officer said a man who lived in the home resembled the man in the video. Even so, the dispatch log shows the officer were sent to El Pollo Loco on Los Osos Valley Road for a lost property report.

The group of police drew the attention of a man living in the house with his wife and two children.

The man, who is not being identified by CalCoastNews, came out to ask the officers what was going on. The man had a full beard and mustache.

Even so, detectives Jason Dickel and Suzie Walsh told the man that they knew he had stolen the chief’s pistol and ordered him to tell them where it was, the man said. He told the officers he had been in Atascadero with his wife and two children at a medical appointment and that he had not been at El Pollo Loco in SLO.

Police asked the man for consent to search his home but he asked for a warrant. Police then informed him he was on probation so they didn't need a warrant. The man told them it was not him but a relative who was on probation. He even had the documentation to prove it.

But police refused to see the court documents.

"You have the gun and we are going in to get it," San Luis Obispo police officer Jason Dickel told him, according to his interview with the Cal Coast Times.

The cops entered the home and kicked his bedroom down and after finding no gun, they arrested the couple on child neglect charges, taking the kids into county custody because the "house was unclean."

A county social worker named Carrie Bailey voiced her agreement with the decision to remove the kids from the home, telling the Cal Coast Times that a photograph taken by the deputies proves the parents were allowing drug paraphernalia in the children's bedroom but that turned out to be a lie.

In support of removing the children from their parents’ custody Carrie Bailey, a county social worker, claimed a photograph taken in the parents’ bedroom of paraphernalia was taken in the children’s bedroom. When asked about the misstatement, Debra Barriger, a deputy county counsel, said the county is not permitted to disclose child custody issues.

Seven hours after she had left the gun in the bathroom, police received a call from the brother-in-law of the clean-shaven man in the video who told them to swing by and pick up the gun. The Cal Coast Times did not identify the couple who were arrested.

Check out the chief's explanation below.

Clarification: The chief left her personal weapon, a Glock 42 which holds six rounds, in the restroom and not her department issued gun. Sean Greenwood called the SLO Police Department at 7 p.m. on July 11 to report he had the chief’s gun.

The search for the pistol that San Luis Obispo Police Chief Deanna Cantrell lost in a bathroom stall resulted in an apparently illegal search of a home without a warrant and the arrest of a couple on charges of child neglect for having a messy house. And, new information points to Cantrell’s efforts to keep the news of her loss quiet despite her claim that she immediately reported the stolen gun.

Cantrell left her pistol, a Glock with a 6-round magazine, in the bathroom of an El Pollo Loco restaurant about noon on July 10. A short time later, Cantrell realized she did not have her weapon and returned to the restaurant bathroom. The pistol was not there.

In contrast to San Luis Obispo Chief Deanna Cantrell’s claim that she immediately reported her gun stolen, several officers said her attempt to cover-up the theft of her gun risked officer safety and led to the search of the home of a man incorrectly identified as the person suspected of taking the chief’s gun.

Typically, after a loaded police firearm is stolen, a be on the lookout (BOLO) is put out to area law enforcement not only to help quickly recover the stolen weapon, but also to protect officer and public safety.

However, for the first two hours, Cantrell conducted the investigation into her stolen gun without reporting the theft. Cantrell checked surveillance footage at the restaurant and saw that three people had entered the restroom after her, two of whom were still in the restaurant and did not have her gun, Cantrell said.

Two hours after Cantrell discovered her gun was missing, she called police dispatch and asked police department employee Christine Steeb to call her back, cell phone to cell phone, in an apparent attempt to keep the call from being recorded, said a SLO police officer, who asked to remain anonymous to protect his employment. Steeb said the chief provided information about her lost gun on a non-recorded line because of issues with the city’s phone system.

The last person, who was the first to enter the restroom after Cantrell left, was not in the restaurant when the chief returned to look for her firearm. The man, later identified as 30-year-old Skeeter Carlos Mangan of Los Osos, was shown in the video – clean-shaven, balding and wearing a black jacket and shorts.

Shortly before 7 p.m., a group of five detectives were dispatched to a home on O’Connor Way after an officer said a man who lived in the home resembled the man in the video. Even so, the dispatch log shows the officer were sent to El Pollo Loco on Los Osos Valley Road for a lost property report.

The group of police drew the attention of a man living in the house with his wife and two children.

The man, who is not being identified by CalCoastNews, came out to ask the officers what was going on. The man had a full beard and mustache.

Even so, detectives Jason Dickel and Suzie Walsh told the man that they knew he had stolen the chief’s pistol and ordered him to tell them where it was, the man said. He told the officers he had been in Atascadero with his wife and two children at a medical appointment and that he had not been at El Pollo Loco in SLO.

The man’s wife and the couple’s two daughters also came out of the house and spoke with officers. The wife said she offered to call the doctor so he could confirm they were in Atascadero at the time the gun was stolen, but the detectives said no. The wife said she heard several officers noting her husband clearly was not the clean-shaven man seen in the video.

Walsh then asked the man if she could search his home. He asked if she had a warrant.

“Jason Dickel said I was on probation and he did not need a warrant,” the man said. “I told him I had court documents showing it was another family member who was on probation, but he did not want to see the documents. He said ‘you have the gun and we are going in to get it.’ ”

After the officers entered the house and kicked down the parents’ bedroom door, they arrested the man and his wife on charges of child neglect. The house was unclean, officers said, and they took the children into county custody. The girls, 7 and 9, remained in the police station until after 2 a.m. the next day, the man’s wife said.

In support of removing the children from their parents’ custody Carrie Bailey, a county social worker, claimed a photograph taken in the parents’ bedroom of paraphernalia was taken in the children’s bedroom. When asked about the misstatement, Debra Barriger, a deputy county counsel, said the county is not permitted to disclose child custody issues.

At 7:30 p.m., more than seven hours after the chief’s gun was stolen. SLO police patrol officers were notified for the first time that the chief had lost her gun, a patrol officer said.

In contrast with Cantrell’s timeline, SLO County Sheriff Chief Deputy Aaron Nix said that between 8 p.m. and 9 p.m. on July 10, SLO Police Department employees requested the sheriff’s department assist them in finding the gun. A sheriff watch commander then asked why they had not informed area law enforcement through a BOLO alert, and gave SLO police dispatch a 30 minute window to send out an officer safety BOLO alert to area law enforcement.

“We inquired as to whether they intended to put out an Officer Safety BOLO,” Nix said. “SLOPD Dispatch advised they did intend to send out a BOLO and we offered to assist them in that regard. We told them we would re-contact them in about a half an hour to check on their progress, and we later confirmed they had in fact put out the BOLO.”

At approximately 7 p.m. on July 11, Mangan’s brother-in-law Sean Greenwood called the SLO Police Department to report he and Mangan had the chief’s gun, Greenwood said. Cantrell then sent officers to Los Osos to retrieve the firearm.

Following a two day investigation, SLO City Manager Derek Johnson fined Cantrell $1,600 for violating city policy regarding keeping weapons concealed at all times. Johnson praised Cantrell for her “integrity throughout the incident.”