'People's Court' misses out on Smith & Wesson lesson

Gresham man, police decline the show's offer to resolve a dispute over a gun

By Mara Stine

The Gresham Outlook, Nov 17, 2006, Updated Oct 30, 2009 (1 Reader comment)

ADVERTISEMENTS

Local residents won’t be seeing Gresham Police Chief Carla Piluso on “The People’s Court” any time soon.

On Wednesday, Gresham resident David “Dave” Gallegos walked into the Gresham Police Department and left with a rare pistol that had sparked a lawsuit and caught the attention of “The People’s Court” executives.

In mid-June, Gallegos found a .357-caliber Smith & Wesson revolver and turned it over to a Gresham police officer. It wasn’t stolen or involved in a crime. And nobody claimed it.

So after jumping through the necessary hoops to retrieve found property – including running an ad in The Outlook – Gallegos wanted the gun, which by then he considered rightfully his.

Only Gresham police wouldn’t hand it over.

It all began on June 15 when Gallegos, 56, who works as a cab driver, was taking a customer to a doctor’s appointment in Portland. He was stuck in standstill traffic when he noticed the gun on a lawn in the 16800 block of Southeast Foster Road.

He called Portland police hoping an officer could meet him at the doctor’s office. When one wasn’t available, he bought the gun to the Gresham Police Department. Once again, all officers were busy, so he took the gun home.

The following morning, he happened upon a traffic stop off East Powell Boulevard and Northeast Hood Avenue. Gallegos flagged down the officer, gave him the gun and received a receipt, complete with instructions on how to retrieve found property if nobody claims it.

But during the process, Gresham police officials reportedly told him the department’s policy is to not return lost firearms to those who find them.

“Do we really want to be returning guns into the community?” Piluso asked. “From a crime-prevention and community safety perspective, it would not be my first choice.”

The situation was a unique one for Gresham police.

1 | 2 Next Page >>