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| Monday, May 19 2008 1:26 PM
Last Updated: Monday, May 19 2008 5:42 PM
The theft of guns from the Kern County Sheriff’s Department’s property room by a part-time employee has Sheriff Donny Youngblood outraged and embarrassed and investigating how it happened and whether anything else is missing.
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The “extra help” employee, Edgard Luis Nava, 18, accused of stealing guns from the Sheriff's Department property room, appeared in court Tuesday.
The “extra help” employee, Edgard Luis Nava, 18, and two other men were taken into custody after it was discovered 20 handguns were missing from the property room, deputies said. The thefts are believed to have happened over the past six weeks.
Youngblood said Nava should never have had access to the guns or any other evidence.
“Part-time and extra help workers and people not permanently assigned to the property room have no business being there,” he said.
Nava had passed a background check and there was nothing to indicate he would do something like this, Youngblood said. Nava was hired through a program the sheriff’s department uses to hire young adults and get them interested in a possible career at the sheriff’s department.
There is no evidence that anyone else at the sheriff’s department was involved, Youngblood said. An internal and external audit will be conducted for the entire property room to determine what, if any, other items are missing.
The discovery of the theft came on May 14 when an 18-year-old man was arrested in Los Angeles for possession of a concealed weapon, deputies reported. The gun was traced to the Kern County sheriff's property room.
An audit was conducted and it was found that 20 handguns — all from cases whose trials had been concluded — were missing. Detectives identified Nava, who was hired in December, as a possible suspect.
A search warrant served at his home didn’t turn up any of the stolen guns, but deputies did find a tag belonging to one of the guns, Youngblood said.
Deputies also found a small amount of methamphetamine and Nava was booked into jail on suspicion of drug possession and grand theft. His bail was set at $200,000.
The investigation identified several locations where it was believed the stolen firearms had been disposed. Five search warrants were served and three handguns were recovered.
Youngblood declined to release Nava’s address and the locations where the five search warrants were served. He also wouldn’t release what types of handguns were stolen.
The man arrested in Los Angeles was identified as Jesus Hermino Ramos-Gomez, a Kern County resident, deputies said. Another man, Aaron Walker, 18, was arrested on suspicion of possession of one of the guns and possession of marijuana, deputies said.
In 2001, about 2.2 pounds of cocaine went missing from the property room. Investigators were never able to track the missing drugs down. Then-Sheriff Carl Sparks said they could have been stolen or accidentally destroyed.
Youngblood made no excuses for Nava’s behavior. Even though Nava was an employee of the sheriff’s department, he’s no different than anyone else who commits a crime, he said.
“At the end of the day this is just another criminal and criminals deserve to be in jail,” Youngblood said. “Whether they’re an employee of the sheriff’s department or a school employee or postal employee or a member of the news media, it really doesn’t make any difference.”