What once was lost has now been found,City police recover stolen ATV 2nd time

City police recover stolen ATV 2nd time
By DAVID C. SHAMPINE
TIMES STAFF WRITER
TUESDAY, DECEMBER 2, 2008
ARTICLE OPTIONS


Watertown police on Monday recovered the $6,800 all-terrain vehicle that was stolen from their garage at the Metro-Jefferson Public Safety Building during the weekend of Nov. 22 and 23.

No details about how or where the recovery occurred were disclosed, but a detective said in a press release that an arrest is pending.

The development Monday night partially resolved a situation that Chief Joseph J. Goss said earlier in the day was "a little embarrassing." Yet to be explained, however, is how the ATV, which was being housed by police as stolen property, was taken from its secured place.

The mostly red and black 2007 Yamaha Raptor 700R Special Edition ATV, owned by Michael Rumker, said to be a Fort Drum soldier, was stolen at Fort Drum. It was recovered Oct. 17 with the arrest of Donald L. Hamill Jr., 19, Fort Drum, on West Lynde Street.

Police placed the recovered evidence in their portion of a garage shared with the Jefferson County Sheriff's Department, behind the Metro-Jefferson Public Safety Building.

"A week before it was taken, I noticed it was still in the garage, and I told our people to take pictures of it so that we could return it to the owner," Chief Goss said. "There was no sense hanging on to it because we can't bring it into a courtroom."

Fortunately, his orders were followed, at least partially. Pictures were taken. But the machine was not returned.

On Nov. 24, the ATV was no longer there. Officers found no documentation indicating it had been handed over to Mr. Rumker, or to anyone else, Chief Goss said. Mr. Rumker was contacted and was asked if he had come for the machine. He said he had not.

"All of our people and all county employees have access to the garage with their access cards," he said. It is normal for them to be there to get gas for their official vehicles.

"The doors should always be locked, but that isn't always the case," he said.

All city police personnel and county employees who are known to enter the building, including deputies, have been questioned, he said.

But there could be a long list of people who have been there. Jail inmates who have been given "trusty" work privileges "have gone through there," he said. There were many people in the building on Oct. 22, five days after the Hamill arrest, when the city conducted an auction of recovered and unclaimed bicycles.

Mr. Hamill remains jailed. Now charged in connection with two ATV thefts, he faces counts of third- and fourth-degree criminal possession of stolen property, operating an unregistered and uninsured ATV, having two or more passengers and improperly operating an ATV.

Chief Goss and Sheriff John P. Burns both declined comment when asked about outdoor surveillance cameras at the Public Safety Building.

"But I can tell you that we will be asking for additional cameras," the sheriff said. "For a number of years, we have requested a fence around the garage area because of criminal mischief to cars in the back lot."

The two department heads said they are unaware of any other thefts occurring in the garage in the 16-year history of the Public Safety Building.

Mr. Rumker could not be reached Monday for comment.