A deputy’s department-issued Sig Sauer P320 found its way into the hands of a convicted felon last week when it was left behind in a restroom stall at the RaceTrac convenience store in Oviedo, Florida, 20 miles northeast of Orlando. Stopping to answer nature’s call at around 5:30 p.m. on a Thursday, the Florida cop shed layers of his gear, including a bulletproof vest and gun belt, before taking the proverbial throne.
An affidavit reports that the gun slipped unnoticed from his holster at some point during the deed, and it was only after departing to a call that the deputy discovered his firearm was missing, prompting him to rush back to the store as if to handle unfinished business.
“After leaving the RaceTrac and responding to a call for service, (the deputy) discovered his gun was missing from his gun belt, so he returned to the RaceTrac to check the restroom…He did not see it in the restroom,” said officials.
Sometime between the fateful pit stop and not-so-triumphant return to the scene of the crime, Chance Byron, 26, and violent felon on probation, Damari Dennis, 23, decided to pick something up where the deputy had left it behind. Investigators say that Byron and Dennis later admitted to seeing the deputy’s gun inside the stall “sticking out of the toilet paper roll.”
You really have three choices in a situation like his:
- Do the right thing and report it to the store and the authorities immediately.
- Take it. Finders keepers.
- Leave it there. It’s someone else’s problem.
With a level of consistency only attributable to a story as nutty as this, let’s just say that the unfortunate Seminole County deputy wasn’t the only party to choose number two that day.
Officials say that surveillance video revealed Chance Byron and Damari Dennis walked out of the store with one of the young men having a “noticeable bulge showing on the right side of his waist,” ironically exiting the encounter heavier than when he came.
A license search led deputies to sniff out the suspects who were arrested in their homes in Orlando on Friday and charged with grand theft of a firearm, failure to report lost or abandoned property and dealing in stolen goods, allegedly selling the $600 handgun for $40 via CashApp. In addition, Damari Dennis, who has been on probation since April with the Florida Department of Corrections, was charged with felon in possession of a weapon, according to investigators.
Officials say that both men admitted they did not attempt to contact law enforcement or inform the employees of the gas station about their stolen bathroom treasure before seemingly turning on one another, with Dennis telling police he “didn’t want to touch it because he was on probation” while Byron told officers that Dennis pointed out the weapon to him before picking it up. Surveillance video, however, revealed that it was Byron who exited the restroom with the bulge in his waist and his right arm pressed against his side.
Byron’s bail is set at $20,000 for dealing in stolen property and grand larceny of a firearm. Dennis is facing the same $20,000 bail with an additional $15,000 tacked on for possession of a weapon by a convicted felon. Both men are due in court Oct. 8.
One arrest affidavit notes the as-yet-unnamed deputy was making a call on his cellphone when the thief “possibly reached under the stall and removed his firearm from his gun belt without him seeing it happen,” however, security footage shows the deputy had left the gas station prior to Byron and Dennis’s arrival. The deputy is expected to face a disciplinary investigation by the department’s professional standards division.
The sheriff’s office told McClatchy News, “The firearm has since been recovered.”
All parties stepped in it, and they may collectively have to take a bite of the same proverbial sandwich. Fecal humor aside, there are lessons to be learned here. First, when you’re responsible for a firearm, there are no rest breaks. Second, don’t take things that don’t belong to you. We all learned that early on, well, most of us. Third, always report an abandoned firearm immediately to the authorities, and whenever possible, wait for them to arrive and do not touch it. Fourth, it’s always better, if you can, to wait until you’re home. Lastly, never pick things up that others leave behind in a public restroom. That’s just gross. Thanks. I’ll be here all week.
So I see one in a gas station public restroom. I am supposed to call the police and wait in the restroom for them to show up. What is the current response time these days? Me? I’ll gently pick it up w/ 2 fingers and take it into the gas station, give it to the attendant, and wait for the police there. Much cleaner than the restroom.
Carry a gun from the bathroom into the gas station just as two ociffers come walking in for their daily free coffee and donuts. I don’t think so. Tell the likely fellon working the counter there’s a gun in the bathroom and be on your way
felon
I thought P320s had a safety feature where if it falls it fires. Notifying the owner that the firearm has left his control.
If it had been a block the officer would have noticed after tripping and breaking a toe.
You ever step on Legos without shoes on, yeah fuck that.
“You ever step on Legos without shoes on,…”
Preach it, brother.
When I stepped on my first one while only wearing socks in my sister’s home, I thought for sure I had stepped on a shard of broken glass, it was that level of pain.
Oh, the relief of not seeing a bloody sock… 🙂
In my house stepping on anything like that is known as lego foot.
One did # 2 and 2 got # 2.
No shortage of # 2 these days.
This all could have been prevented if Speedway declared itself a gun free zone.
/sarc
The buyer paid too much for it.
Seriously??? … I was thinking I’d go as high as $50
I suspect that there is a banned drug currently selling open-air that is $40 per unit. Prolly not reefer tho. That is so close to legal they don’t sell it on the street anymore.
Rock Rock till you drop!!
And the cop keeps his job? A 320 ain’t the lightest gat in a gaggle of guns. No comment on the criminals except 40 BUCKS?!? Duh😧
… chance and damari – no coment nessacery
No switch for 320’s ……yet.
Thank you for not being NY this time.
Apparently they never taught the Eddie Eagle program in Orlando schools. Might have saves these characters all this trouble.
How does a gun, in a level 3 holster, just slip out of said holster and not be noticed when it hits the the bathroom floor? That must’ve been one very soft floor. There’s waaay more to this story.
The article said it was sticking out of a TP roll. I suspect officer careless probably unholstered and stowed the pistol to get the weight off his belt and to keep the gun out of sight (under the stall door) while he was sitting, sans pants, on the john. Gotta remember to take all your gear with you when you leave…
Chance and Damari, low IQ get them every time.
I have a Blackhawk security holster for every semi auto pistol I own. Never in the last 30 years, has a pistol ever come out of the holster, unless I drew it. This behavior is typical of the gen z type cops now. Can’t fix it, it’s another level of stupidity and arrogance.
I’ve been experimenting with a possible solution to this issue of using a public restroom. And the daily carry of firearms.
I will submit an article. With pictures. And no not “those” kind of pictures.
“charged with grand theft of a firearm”
As much as I like to see criminals get charged and convicted I gotta say this … more like “grand find of a firearm facilitated by stupid police officer”
Submitting a test message
Keep in mind, some of the Left only want the police to have guns,
Deputy Fife not gonna live this down…
I’ve had to shed my gat many times while attending to the nature call. There’s one thing I do for my gat and my coat, I leave my car keys with it. If I’m at a restaurant and have a coat with me, I leave my car keys in it. You can’t leave, unless someone else drove and that never happens, if your keys are in your coat pocket. Same with my iron, just recently I drove from the east side of Washington to the west side, I’ve done that twice in the past month. Being an older man, when nature calls, we old guys gotta go and I mean NOW. Because I carry IWB appendix in a Sticky Holster®, there’s nothing that holds your iron and it must be set down. I always set it in an OBVIOUS spot with my keys with it.
The chances of it going anywhere are negligible. Certainly not like setting it on the toilet paper dispenser where you stand up, pull your pants up and walk out. Don’t do that!
Oh, and that’s all I would have paid for a POS striker.
Wow. What a great way to entrap a couple of idiots.
.. and this ‘failure to report lost or abandoned property”.
Do you have any idea how much money out there hasn’t gone to the “missing person” who has lived at the same address for the last 50 years ?
“An affidavit reports that the gun slipped unnoticed from his holster at some point during the deed,
“One arrest affidavit notes the as-yet-unnamed deputy was making a call on his cellphone when the thief “possibly reached under the stall and removed his firearm from his gun belt without him seeing it happen,” however, security footage shows the deputy had left the gas station prior to Byron and Dennis’s arrival.”
Byron’s bail is set at $20,000 for dealing in stolen property and grand larceny of a firearm. Dennis is facing the same
…
So, the officer lied on the arrest report to cover his ass and engaged in malicious prosecution of two false charges against each to save his hide. Sounds like both fine young scholars have good 1983 actions against the officer. They should file a complaint against the officer so his perjury will be part of his Brady file forever. Every defense attorney would love to get a disclosure on a testifying officer that he committed perjury.
if a concealed carry license holder had done this his license would be pulled and very likely charged with a crime.
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