Two men authorities say unwittingly bagged an FBI agent’s loaded pistol, badge, and security credentials while breaking into cars in Lafayette Feb. 20 have been charged with the crime – though the weapon and credentials remain missing.
The San Francisco Chronicle reported that police in their city, armed with the license plate number of a vehicle seen leaving the area of the Lafayette burglary, executed a search of the residence – arresting two men they said raided the agent’s car while he dined with friends at a local restaurant.
Marvin Raul Guerra and Jose Ochoa Gutierrez of San Francisco were taken into custody at the time, telling investigators they threw the agent’s gun and gear off the Bay Bridge once they realized what they’d done. Police are working to verify that story, so far recovering only a protein bar from the agent’s pilfered backpack.
Guerra and Gutierrez, both 18, have been charged with a battery of offenses, and face a maximum 10-year prison sentence and a $250,000 fine, according to the Chronicle.
Both men were released from jail this week.
Investigators determined that Guerra made off with the agent’s backpack after breaking the rear passenger window of a car parked on Lafayette Circle, near American Kitchen, Gutierrez allegedly telling police he drove the white Honda seen leaving the area.
As this site reported at the time, the burglary and loss of the agent’s weapon was an uncomfortable reminder of a 2017 incident in which a 10mm H&K submachine gun was taken from another agent’s car while it was parked in the Lamorinda area.
A 2016 bill requires gun owners, including law enforcement officers, to lock unattended guns in a trunk or in a secured container that isn’t visible to potential thieves while away from their vehicles.
In the Lafayette case, the agent’s weapon, badge, federal entry card – and apparently at least one energy bar – were left in a backpack on the backseat of the vehicle he was in.
Oopsie.
So how was lunch otherwise?
Back to the range for a weapons safety refresher.
Out already and another gun on the street with federal credentials probably up for sale on a III Percenter web board in Michigan. I feel safer already.
How the heck did they let these two rats go? Did they pay any bail? Things are getting ridiculous in this state. Time to vote for someone else.
Anyone mind if I have another drink? No?? Good!
Was there some reason he didn’t want to bring the gun in with him? Leave it in the backpack and loop it over the chair or something?? Seems like it would be something you want to keep under your control at all times. It must have been horrible when he realized he’d been robbed.
On a day when the honorary titular head of household, Mr. Potato Head, is retired from playrooms of the future of the nation…we have to wonder…truffle fries, sweet potato fries, or regular fries? what was included with that officer’s order at AK?
Marvin Raul Guerra and Jose Ochoa Gutierrez were caught with no stolen weapons or credentials, but rather a stolen backpack and an energy bar…For being desperate and stupid or guileless, they face: “a maximum 10-year prison sentence and a $250,000 fine, according to the Chronicle.” Officer Potato Head will be interviewed by some toothless review process, secured from public view, and back on the street…protecting us very soon. We should demand better.
Of all the children and pets that have survived my parenting, none has ever been locked in a car while l had a nice lunch with friends and family, and yet, I accomplished all of that without going to the Parenting Academy. What, I wonder, does the FBI Academy, pre-eminent law enforcement agency in the modern world, teach about securing firearms? Stolen FBI weapon in the 24-680 Part Deux!!
That’s a really nice insignia with the scale and all, but with Fred Hampton and MLK on the one side of your investigative legacy where is the Timothy McVeigh and Ammon Bundy on the other to demonstrate ANY pretense of protecting the general interests of this country? I mean, I can protect myself from Marvin and Jose. Apparently, I already am!! Who’s guarding the Capitols in Lansing and D.C. these days?
Any FBI people here? Can you tell us what happens in cases like this? Slap on the wrist and hard looks from your supervisor? Real scolding? Reduction in pay? Seems like there would be some kind of consequence for this sort of thing. Maybe not.
Maybe it’s wishful thinking but I would think a federal agent would have the situational awareness needed to have prevented something like this. Maybe not. I mean, we’ve had accidental discharge of firearms during FBI break dancing sessions and some other lapses. But since Lafayette seems to be getting so hard by crime these days maybe it’s time for signs warning non-locals – like this agent – of the risks of leaving items in your car???
People that leave items in their car (not just FBI agents) lack common sense. It can’t be taught, and nothing you say or do will get through to these idiots. It’s not the first time an FBI agent left his gun in the car and had it stolen in Lamorinda.
It’s everywhere – and the bad guys have cars. And they’re going to go where the pickings are easy and the FBI guys leave their gats in their cars.
Shout out to Willie Sutton. Why rob Lamorinda? “That’s where the money is”!
David,
No one is “oppressed” in this system. I never met one person in law enforcement that was out to get any specific group, now attitudes did get hardened towards certain communities, usually because they allowed and encouraged rampant drug crime and would not assit authorities in ending violence.
108RS
The terrorists who stormed the Capitol waving Trump flags and Blue Lives Matter flags as they beat, injured, and killed police officers sure looked like they felt oppressed by our system of representative democracy. They were spurred on by Republican leadership at the highest levels who rejected the election outcome with bizarre conspiracies. Have you never met anyone like that? A lot of active police and former military were storming the barricades that day. There were definitely some “hardened” attitudes on display. They had it in for somebody or something. Oh, I guess you are talking about a different group of people, people in “certain communities”.
David,
Hope you enjoy this in your community:
https://news24-680.com/2021/02/28/armed-robbery-in-orinda-sunday/
108RS
No one welcomes crime. What are you saying? What is “my community”? When you reference getting “hardened towards certain communities”? What are you so clumsily suggesting?
The reason he left the gun in the car is that a Glock 22 is not very concealable off duty, he should have left it in the trunk. And, the FBI is not the premier academy in the country, that would be the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.
108RS
Interesting that SEVERELY beating Rodney King on video was not a crime in Los Angeles County, for white officers that is. Mark n-word Furhman is the face of Los Angeles policing for my generation. You have a peculiar way of defining “premier”. If they are “first, foremost, or leading” perhaps we need to turn them around ASAP because they are leading us astray. “A house divided cannot stand.”
Oh, sure, nobody can get into the trunk.
My understanding is that they make and law enforcement has access to locking “arms boxes” which are bolted to the car frame in the trunk and yes are a lot more difficult to get to than a backpack left in plain view on the back seat.
@David-The Rodney King incident was LAPD, not LA Sheriff and what does that have to do with the FBI and this story?
Four ranting posts about your anger toward law enforcement in general..not sure of your anger toward law enforcement, but just a guess you have some issues from past experiences.
There are bad people found in all walks of life and unfortunately they are also sometimes in positions of power. The hope is they are spotted and removed before they abuse their power.
This story has nothing to do with abuse of power, it’s about an agent with no common sense. Hard to teach common sense if he/she doesn’t have it by now, time to place them in a non firearm carrying role. Also time for said agency to go back and examine how they are not catching poor common sense in their gun carrying employees before they are allowed out on the street.
I have had a few not so good interactions with law enforcement, but so you know there are some good people in law enforcement I’ve met a few so i know they exist.
I am an old white guy. In almost 70 years I’ve NEVER experienced abusive or unprofessional behavior from the police. What world do you live in? You think there is a substantive difference between LA PD and the LA Sheriff or Sheriff Livingston, a local sheriff who declares publicly ATTEMPTED MURDER in the 2018 Arboleda case before his eye witness subordinates have even written their reports? What subordinate officer is going to submit any evidence directly contradicting a prejudicial statement just made by his boss? That’s witness tampering. Now, as a protected, full-privilege observer, I don’t know how people who are oppressed by this unjust system contain their anger. I do know it is not blind. It is not just. I do know the lack of accountability is the status quo, and it is unacceptable. Whether it is officers exhibiting poor judgment without serious penalty or witness tampering by
THE top dog, this needs to be addressed!
The problem is not a few bad apples, as you suggest. The problem is systemic. Imagine being a good police officer working in this corrupt system where the bad apples never get MEANINGFUL punishment. If the good cop stands up against the bad cop, he loses. The bad cop never leaves. Maybe he moves from LAPD to LASD, but he never really leaves. And Arboleda is DEAD and defamed before any investigation by the very sheriff who should be seeking objective facts about what happened. A mentally ill man continues to try to drive SLOWly away from the threat he perceives, and a trained, armed officer of the law RUNS TOWARD HIS VEHICLE and fires a volley of fatal shots from the passenger side of the vehicle. This is not an aberration. Read the F ing news. It happens all the time…if you’re not white.
David, I’m sorry to say but you’ve gone over the edge.
you’re part of the people group now that loves criminals running all over the place and hate the police. Your mantra is all about social justice that’s just a sham to allow certain people in society to do all this crime. May I just say that I hope you get to experience being the victim of the next crime rather than me, things are getting worse and worse and it’s bound to happen. Nobody seems to want to wake up to the fact that some people do belong in jail and you just can’t let them run all around among the good citizens.
I did not bring LA policing into this. That was Mr. Elfmont’s input, suggesting that the FBI was not the “pre-eminent” law enforcement agency that I suggested that it is.
No matter your views on policing I think we can agree that this was not a good look for this agent or for the bureau. We can only hope appropriate disciplinary action will be taken.
@David again nothing your posting has anything to do with the story. I am enjoying your posts though and the one thing your correct about is we are not in the same world.
I do hope your world improves, I really do
Nothing? How ’bout equal justice under the law? Law and order. Two FBI weapons, credentials lost to criminals in two incidents in sunny, sleepy, suburban enclave. Penalty for that?????? No one knows. No transparency required. FBI agents can’t be scofflaws because they are law enforcement officers??? Is that axiomatic with you? I’m sorry you have had your “not so good interactions with law enforcement”, but then again YOU survived them. It’s not everyone who can say that!
@David- this is the first of your posts your focusing on the actual story, mostly. And I agree with it except your final statement about who survives interactions with police. Of the millions of interactions with police if people follow directions generally all goes as it should with no one hurt and nobody’s rights violated. In my interactions I followed direction and it was handled appropriately. That is not to say it doesn’t go that way for every one, but as with your other posts that has nothing in common with this incident. The victim of this incident is The People of the State, not an individual.
The penalty is in the penal code so shouldn’t be a question of what it is.
The crime is a misdemeanor at most and can also be an infraction but as with all criminal offenses there has to be intent. My guess is, as with regular citizens I doubt there was intent so at most it would most likely be an infraction which is nothing more then a fine ($1000). A cop can receive an infraction even multiple infractions and still keep their jobs.
The biggest issue I see is the lack of common sense by someone in a position of so much responsibility.Personally IMO the agent should be either fired or placed in a non carrying position.
That’s my opinion, take care