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7 Most Traced Guns Used In Crimes
Police report that a suspect made off with a 16-figure haul after burglarizing a Pennsylvania residence earlier this month.
Investigators say that the Bedford home was broken into on February 6 by “an unknown individual” who made off with several pieces of jewelry, silver dollars worth $20, and 2,000,000,000,000,000 in currency.
Zimbabwean currency.
According to a police report, “twenty Zimbabwe 100 trillion dollar bills” were swiped by the burglar.
For some reason, the report values the stolen currency as worth $1 million U.S.. However, the Zimbabwe bills–issued during a period of hyperinflation–are essentially worthless as currency. Instead, they are sold as a numismatic oddity for around $10 apiece.
The burglar also escaped with $30 in loose change.
Postal police going unused as mail thefts increase
FOX 26 Reporter Abigail Dye explains why a resource that could help curb mail theft isn’t being used.
HOUSTON – Postal Police Officers, or PPO’s, exist. PPO’s have been employed by the United States Postal Service and overseen by the United States Postal Inspection Service for decades.
According to the National President Postal Police Officers Association, Frank Albergo, they patrolled streets for 50 years protecting mail and mail carriers.
“People are not going to rob a letter carrier knowing that postal police officers are on patrol,” he said.
But in 2020, a USPS memorandum changed their jurisdiction, making it so PPO’s are only allowed to man postal buildings – no longer able to patrol.
“There are postal police officers in Houston, and they’re not being utilized to stop mail theft. This isn’t hard to figure out. You have postal police officers that specialize in mail theft prevention and protection of mail carriers and the postal service refuses to use them,” said Albergo.
USPIS has acknowledged an intense rise in mail carrier robberies in the latest annual report of their Fiscal Year (FY) 2022.
They say those robberies target mail carriers to get access to their “arrow keys” that open numerous mail boxes.
According to those reports, from 2019 to FY 2022, robberies more than quadrupled from 94 to 423. While the arrest rate concerning those robberies plummeted from 70% to 23%. Arrests rates for all crime dropped from 98% in FY 2019 to 78% in FY 2022.
“It’s been an absolute disaster. Mail is being stolen day after day, letter carriers are being robbed, identities stolen, bank accounts drained, something has to be done,” said Albergo.
We reached out to USPIS asking for an interview to better understand the circumstances around PPO jurisdiction.
They declined to interview and responded with an email that can be read in its entirety below.
In the email they say, “Given the lack of statutory authority for PPO law enforcement activity off postal premises, curtailing such use of PPOs was necessary to protect individual PPOs and the Postal Service more broadly from legal liability. In 2020, a federal court confirmed, in response to the PPOs’ contrary assertions, that the Postal Service’s determination of PPOs’ jurisdiction constituted a reasonable interpretation of the law.”
They also explain how the inspection service is structured, saying, “From a more practical perspective, we also question the effectiveness or appropriateness of expanding the role of PPOs beyond the protection of real property, given the structure of the Inspection Service.”
Going on to say, “The U.S. Postal Inspection Service takes seriously its role to safeguard America and will continue to aggressively pursue perpetrators that use the U.S. Mail system to further their illegal activity.”
There are currently two bills in Congress that would restore the jurisdiction of PPO’s. House Bill 3005 and Senate Bill 3356.
Courtney Price was at home on Wednesday taking care of her one-year-old son, Waylon, when they experienced a terrifying and traumatic altercation with local law enforcement. What should have been an ordinary day took a turn for the worse when SWAT officers broke into the home, searching for a suspect.
In the aftermath of the raid, it was revealed that law enforcement had targeted the wrong home, and tragically, their actions resulted in the baby sustaining injuries. The events that unfolded left the family shaken and seeking justice for Waylon’s suffering.
Price told RedState that she had been staying with her aunt Redia and her husband for one week before the incident occurred. She recounted her experience, describing how she stood petrified as the police burst into her aunt Redia’s home, throwing a flashbang grenade into the residence and breaking windows. She was feeding her son, who has a condition requiring the use of a G-tube because he cannot eat by mouth. A little after 2 pm, she “started hearing very loud pings on the door,” and went to see what was happening.
I got up and started walking towards the door, and all I could see was a bunch of police because we were in a split-level house, so I was at the top of the steps there. All I could see was a bunch of police, and they were already hitting the door. I was trying to get to the door to open it, but I didn’t want to get hit, so I just froze on the steps. They busted it down and busted the windows out all at the same time. I was standing there, I froze. I really wanted to run to my baby and just help him because I see all that smoke getting on him. There were handguns pointed at me [with the officers] saying, ‘Get down, put your hands up, come down here.’ So I went down. They grabbed me and took me outside, put me in handcuffs.
Price explained that the officers kept her outside for 35 to 45 minutes while her son “was laying in his swing, covered in glass, covered in smoke, choking, gasping for air.”
One of the medics who were present at the scene placed a stethoscope on Waylon’s chest and indicated that he “sounds clear.” But the mother could see this was not the case. “My baby was blood-red, gasping for air,” she said. “He could not breathe. I asked for paramedics to be called. Paramedics were called, and the paramedics were amazing…they were amazing and helped so much.”
Upon arriving at the hospital, she was told that her son had pneumonia but did not believe it was related to the incident. But after Waylon was taken home, his situation deteriorated. She said:
That night, my son quit breathing, and I was able to…bring him back up. I kept him at home, and then, early morning, he quit breathing again. I had him maxed out on oxygen, maxed out on everything I had at home, and he was still [declining] into the low 80s. So we called 911 again and had an ambulance come.
Price said they went to the same hospital, but Waylon’s condition had worsened to the point that he needed to be transferred to a higher-ranked hospital. He was taken to Rainbow Babies & Children’s Hospital, where it was revealed that he did not have pneumonia but was suffering from chemical pneumonitis.
He has chemical pneumonitis, which is inflammation in the lungs, irritation in the lungs. His soft tissue is irritated and inflamed. His heart is irritated and inflamed. He has chemical burns around his eyes. He had light chemical burns on his chest, arms, belly, and that has since gotten a lot better. The eyes are still pretty bad. My son was born so premature, he already had eye issues, and now we don’t know how it’s going to affect his eyes.
Waylon was recently moved out of the ICU, but the mother said, “he still has a long road ahead of him and won’t be getting out anytime soon.”
Elyria Police Chief Bill Pelko defended the officers, in an interview with a local news outlet:
“We hit the right house on Parmely,” Pelko said. “The search warrant was for 331 Parmely, that was the correct house. This wasn’t a case of us hitting the wrong house.”
Law enforcement had been looking for a 14-year-old black suspect who had previously lived in the house before Redia and her husband, Marlon Jennings. She explained to RedState:
They had been to the house five times within the last year looking for this little boy, and we’ve told them every time that he doesn’t live here. He hasn’t lived here in two years now. It was the previous residents before us. The little boy is black, and my uncle (Marlon) is also black. The rest of us are all white. He pointed at my uncle’s picture on the wall and said, ‘Are you sure this isn’t your family, the little boy?’ I said, ‘Yes, I’m positive. I’ve never seen him before in my life.’
In a press release, the Elyria Police Department claimed that the flashbang grenades “were deployed outside of the residence,” and insisted that the devices “do not produce a continuous burn and they do not deploy or contain any pepper gas or chemical agents.”
The second and third paragraphs read, in full (click post to read full Facebook post):
At approximately 2:12 p.m., the Elyria Police Special Response Team (SRT) executed the search warrant at 331 Parmely Ave. which was the correct address of the search warrant.
During the tactical operation, two diversionary devices, commonly known as a “flash-bangs” were deployed outside of the residence. These devices produce sound and light that is noticeable in day or night conditions and are intended to distract the suspects attention. Diversionary devices do not produce a continuous burn and they do not deploy or contain any pepper gas or chemical agents.
However, the above footage from the neighbor’s Ring camera shows an officer hurling the device into the home–with the noticeable presence of smoke.
The family is now faced with the daunting task of seeking justice while also making sure Waylon receives the medical treatment he needs. Price told RedState that during the raid, the officers knocked to the floor the child’s medical equipment, which is supposed to stay sanitized. The family is trying to raise funds to purchase new equipment. The family has set up a GoFundMe campaign to help cover the medical expenses.
Jeff Charles is the host of “A Fresh Perspective” podcast. He is a contributor for RedState, Newsweek Opinion and also has a Substack called “Chasing Liberty.”
Jeff is also a freelance writer and political contributor who has appeared on Fox News, The Hill’s “Rising,” Fox Soul, Newsmax, and the First TV Network.
He enjoys reading, binging TV shows, learning to play the banjo (badly), and all things nerdy. He also believes that any steak cooked above medium rare is burnt, and an abomination.
Check out all of his information here.
You can follow him on Twitter: @jeffcharlesjr
If you have a tip about a story of local government abuse, send him an email: jeff@afreshperspectiveshow.com
Federal law enforcement officials have launched a new initiative to inform the public of what they say is a growing problem that involves the illegal modification of semi-automatic firearms into fully automatic weapons.
Officials from the United States Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives launched a series of public service announcements designed to raise awareness on the dangers of these machine gun conversion devices, which are often referred to as “switches,” “chips” or “auto sears.”
The devices can be 3D-printed at home, but are often sold online, sometimes under misleading names to avoid detection by law enforcement, and billed as being legal to possess.
But despite their seeming harmlessness on their own, simply owning one of the conversion devices carries the same legal penalty as carrying an illegal machine gun, even if you don’t even have a weapon to modify.
The public service announcements feature U.S. Attorney Martin Estrada and leadership from the ATF Los Angeles, highlighting the dangers of the illegal conversion devices and the stiff legal penalties for those found in possession of them.
“These devices are not gun accessories. They are illegal and considered machine guns under federal law,” says ATF LA Field Division Special Agent in Charge Christopher Bombardiere.
He adds that the ATF has recovered more than 31,000 of the devices in the last five years and compared the problem to the rise of ghost guns — untraceable firearms that are assembled using spare or 3D-printed parts and which have no serial number.
Law enforcement officials say the devices can switch a semi-automatic pistol or rifle into fully automatic in as little as 60 seconds. “One pull of the trigger can release all the ammunition in the magazine,” they said.
Estrada said simply possessing one of these “switches” can carry a sentence of up to 10 years in prison and federal law enforcement officials are being extra diligent to keep the devices off the streets.
If you know of anyone who may be purchasing, making or stockpiling these devices, you are urged to contact your local ATF office. They can also be safely turned over at a local office.
A machine gun is described under the National Firearms Act as follows:
- Any weapon which shoots, is designed to shoot, or can be readily restored to shoot, automatically more than one shot, without manual reloading, by a single function of the trigger.
- The combination of parts designed and intended for use in converting a weapon into a machine gun.
To view one of the public service announcements published by the ATF, click here.