FRANK LEWIS

PDT Staff Writer

Guns were again the target of thieves over the weekend. On Thursday, an entry on Big Run Road in Lucasville netted thieves a Bersa stainless steel automatic .380 pistol, valued at $300 and a Bersa Thunder pistol, valued at $275. On Friday, an entry on Mohawk Drive in Lucasville, resulted in the theft of a .22 caliber Marlin rifle, valued at $200. On Saturday, a 12 gauge Mossberg shotgun, valued at $300 was taken from a residence on Tick Ridge Road in Wheelersburg.

“There’s many times when we’ll do search warrants on drug-related offenses, and it’s nothing to find 20 guns,” Scioto County Sheriff Marty V. Donini said after another recent rash of gun thefts. “And the thing about proving guns are stolen is that you have to have serial numbers. And in many cases the victims don’t have their serial numbers recorded. Therefore, we don’t have those available to confirm whether or not, in fact, a gun is stolen.”

Donini said gun thefts are like the majority of other thefts in the region are usually drug-related.

“We believe a lot of the guns stolen from area residences are being used in the course of drug deals,” Donini said. “In other words, instead of paying cash, they might pay with guns.”

Frank Lewis may be reached at 740-353-3101, ext. 232, or at flewis@heartlandpublications.com