Tulsa County Sheriff's Office Offering Reward For Return Of Stolen Guns

NewsOn6.com & Lacie Lowry, News On 6

TULSA, Oklahoma -- Burglars broke into a building at the Tulsa Gun Club, which deputies use to store equipment, and stole eleven guns.

Now the sheriff's office is admitting a big mistake.

The thieves stole five handguns and six rifles and it wasn't hard once they were inside. The sheriff's office says those guns were just lying on the floor.

The club is located in the 8000 block East Mohawk Boulevard.

The sheriff's office says sometime between the evening of February 12, 2011 and the morning of February 13, 2011, the thieves stole five handguns and six rifles.

"Broken glass everywhere, lamps turned over, tables, chairs were up there laying around. It was a basic mess," Rich Pounds, Tulsa Gun Club Manager, said of the mess.

In a news release, TCSO said the burglars gained access to an upper story room at the club by climbing up the building and breaking in through a second-story window.

The sheriff's office thinks someone used a cart and pushed it right next to the roof to climb on top. Then, they broke out that window, grabbed the guns and either dropped them back on the cart or tossed them to someone below.

The stolen property was a shocker for Captain John Bowman.

"We didn't know there were guns out there," he said. "Obviously some members of our training staff did, but department wide it was something that people just weren't aware of. But apparently the burglars were aware of it."

Bowman says he found out sheriff's office employees have been leaving a few guns at the club for decades in case someone forgets theirs.

That will change.

"Lesson learned," he said. "We'll take our licks for making that mistake and we'll fix the problem and not the blame, then we'll go after the guns and get them back."

The Tulsa County Sheriff's Office is offering a $5,000 reward to get the guns back. If you have any information, you can call Crime Stoppers at 918-596-COPS.

The sheriff's office says all 11 guns belong to the sheriff's office and were stored at the club.