Man who stole cops' guns gets federal prison

[alp227]

by Henry K. Lee
San Francisco Chronicle

(02-10) 09:48 PST SAN PABLO --

A San Pablo man described as being obsessed with "tools of warfare" was sentenced Tuesday to more than five years in federal prison for stealing assault rifles and shotguns belonging to the Contra Costa County sheriff's office and the California Highway Patrol.

Daniel William Vess, 21, pleaded guilty Tuesday to possession of a stolen firearm. At a hearing in Oakland, U.S. District Judge Saundra Brown Armstrong sentenced him to five years and three months in prison.

On three occasions in 2008 and 2009, prosecutors said, Vess cut through fences and broke into police cruisers to steal a total of four AR-15 semiautomatic rifles, two shotguns and equipment belonging to the sheriff and CHP.

Vess converted one of the stolen weapons to a fully automatic assault weapon and tried to convert a second firearm to an automatic weapon, federal prosecutors said.

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/02/10/BA7B1BVE41.DTL

[LiberalFighter]

1. How did a kid manage to steal the weapons?

[Fire_Medic_Dave]

2. Is a 19 year old still technically a kid?

[alp227]

3. Absolutely not; but still a "teen" though lol

[slackmaster]

7. To his mother, he's always her child

:grouphug:

[NM_hemilover]

5. with great big steel clanky ones

[slackmaster]

6. He was emboldened by the weapons themselves to commit his crimes

Guns have strong psychological influence on people. Everyone knows that guns embolden crime.

:sarcasm:

[TheCowsCameHome]

4. He just carried away with his hobby.

No harm done.

[Fire_Medic_Dave]

8. Stealing. Probably not the best hobby.