A guest at the Comfort Inn in Festus woke up to find his pickup, which had a handgun inside, stolen. The 2007 Ford F-250 pickup and gun were stolen from the hotel parking lot, 1303 Veterans Blvd., Festus Police Chief Tim Lewis said.
Lewis said surveillance footage showed someone walking around the parking lot and then the truck leaving the parking lot around 5 a.m. March 24.
“The victim, a 56-year-old man from Eminence, discovered the truck missing at about 6:30 a.m.” Lewis said. “He said he’d driven the truck to go to dinner and then parked it about 10 p.m. the night before. He’d left a pistol in the vehicle. He said the vehicle was locked and he does not know how it was stolen.”
Lewis estimated the value of the vehicle at $4,000 to $5,000 and the gun at $800 to $900.
He said he is dismayed that another weapon was left in a vehicle and ended up in the hands of a criminal.
“It goes back to, don’t leave a gun in a vehicle,” Lewis said.
As of March 30, the stolen items had not been recovered, no arrests had been made and the investigation was ongoing, he said. Anyone with information is urged to call Festus Police at 636-937-3646.