Teen charged with gun theft

Monday, April 04, 2011

A 17-year-old female student at Dickinson High School has been charged with stealing two handguns from a legal guardian and handing them out to two classmates after posting a photo of one of the guns on her Facebook page, according to Jersey City police reports.

The 56-year-old gun owner, a resident of College, reported the guns missing Saturday at 7:36 a.m., reports said.

The wife of the gun owner said she went into a closet for some clothes and noticed the comforter that is normally wrapped around the box containing the weapons had been tampered with, reports said.

When she opened the box, the guns were gone.

The teen admitted to her guardians that she had swiped the two guns - a 9mm and a .22-caliber handgun - and posted a picture of the 9mm on her Facebook page, reports said.

The girl said she gave the 9mm gun to an 18-year-old female classmate after the girl saw the posting and asked to borrow the weapon, reports said.

The girl said that a 17-year-old junior also asked her for a weapon, reports said.

Reports indicate that none of these transactions took place on school grounds.

The gun owner failed to produce proper paperwork for the weapons, but initial reports do not indicate he was charged with any crimes.

The 17-year-old girl, who was charged with theft, told police that she gave the guns to her classmates because they told her gang members were after them and they needed the guns for protection, reports said.

CHARLES HACK