I'm good with that.....of course, Austin PD may have some problems...
Moms, kids find officer's loaded gun in South Austin park
Police reviewing the incident, officials say.
By Tony Plohetski
AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF
Wednesday, July 09, 2008
Editor's note: The original posting of this story briefly included a mug shot that was not officer Daniel Eveleth, but another K-9 officer.
A group of mothers and children at a Southwest Austin park found the loaded gun of an Austin police officer who did not know for hours that his weapon was missing, officials said Tuesday.
Austin police Lt. Donald Baker said supervisors are reviewing how officer Daniel Eveleth's Glock handgun might have fallen from his holster while he was training a police dog about 5 a.m. Monday at the Circle C Ranch Metropolitan Park on Slaughter Creek.
Department officials said Tuesday that they could not specifically describe what training exercises Eveleth was conducting with the dog, why they were being done at pre-dawn hours or the type of holster he was wearing.
Officers responding to the park after one of the mothers called 911 learned that the gun was registered to Eveleth, who has been an officer for about 11 years and worked as a Travis County jailer before joining Austin police.
They returned the weapon to Eveleth at his home about four hours after he left the park and told him where it had been found, Baker said.
"He had no idea he was missing the weapon from his holster," Baker said. "It doesn't look like it was done in negligence."
Calls to Eveleth's home phone were not answered.
Wuthipong Tantaksinanukij, vice president of the Austin Police Association, said Eveleth is "devastated."
"First and foremost, we are thankful that nobody got hurt," Tantaksinanukij said. "No one feels that more than the officer himself."
He said the incident raises questions about the type of equipment they use.
Austin police policy requires officers to secure their weapons "by every practical means."
Danielle Pieranunzi, who went with her baby to the park to walk with a friend, said she first noticed the gun on a playground slide.
"It was in very plain view," she said. "It wasn't hidden or anything."
Police said it was unclear whether the gun had been left on the slide or placed there by someone else.
Pieranunzi said one of the mothers moved the gun from the slide and propped it between a couple of tree branches out of the reach of children. Several of them guarded the weapon until officers arrived, she said.
"You don't think a policeman would lose his gun," she said. "It's pretty surprising and kind of disappointing."
tplohetski@statesman.com; 445-3605
