McDonough police chief: Stolen guns still on street

Seven to 10 guns stolen from the McDonough Police Department’s evidence room remain on the streets, the police chief said Tuesday.

Officers recovered a second of the stolen guns this week, Chief Preston Dorsey said Tuesday.

“The suspect sold or traded the gun to someone else,” Dorsey said. “He claims he acted alone. Right now, we’re still just looking for our evidence.”

Police say Jamie Lee Clark climbed through a window of the police station on June 1 and was able to access the evidence room.

Dorsey said Clark, a convicted felon, was part of the Henry County Sheriff’s Department work release program that allowed him to clean the McDonough Police Department. He spent several months checking out the layout of the building and planning the break-in, Dorsey said.

Clark, 33, had been out of jail two months when he committed the crime, Dorsey said. Now, he’s back at the Henry County jail, where he is being held without bond on nine charges.

Police records show Clark took at least 10 guns, including 9 mm, .22 caliber, .40 caliber and .45 caliber handguns. He also took 13 bags of marijuana, five crack cocaine rocks, ammunition, brass knuckles and cash, according to records.

Henry County District Attorney Tommy Floyd said he is combing through the list of items taken during the burglary to see if any cases would have to be thrown out.

However, courts records show that seven of the nine cases affected have already been closed. The status of the other two cases involved is unclear because they involve juveniles and the court records were unavailable.

Floyd said he is confident investigators will find the guns. However, at least one of the guns had the serial number scratched off, records show.

Floyd said there could be complications if any of the suspects file an appeal or if new circumstances arise in their cases.

“If you can’t maintain the chain of custody, that might be a problem,” he said. “Hopefully the effect will be minimal.”

The evidence taken was from cases from 2005 to 2008. The majority of the cases are drug possession and gun possession crimes.

One case involved a gun and some marijuana seized in 2007 during a domestic dispute. The case was never presented to the grand jury and subsequently closed, according to court records.

Another case involves a man who was charged with trying to pawn a gun that was stolen from Louisiana in 2005. The man, who was also charged with having marijuana possession, was arrested. However, the grand jury decided not to issue an indictment, according to court records.

Two of the cases involve guns seized from teenagers. One was a teenager arrested for firing a stolen 9 mm out of his car window, according to a police report.

Investigators say Clark has no connection to the evidence he stole and likely was just looking for items he could sell, including guns and narcotics.

Clark, of Jonesboro, sold at least one of the guns to an associate in Clayton County. Police seized one of the guns and some of the other stolen items from a house on King Street in Jonesboro on June 9. Three other suspects, including a College Park man allegedly bought the gun, were arrested.

The break-in remains under investigation by McDonough Police and the Georgia Bureau of Investigation.