Army vet gets his precious U.S. flags back

Originally published on sfgate.com:
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He stole a pickup, separately swiped the license plates to put on it and got nabbed with drugs and a loaded pistol with the serial number filed off. But then — and this is all according to San Leandro police — Michael Welch went the extra step toward outrageousness.

He stole a retired Army staff sergeant’s flags and military equipment. In the sergeant’s U-Haul truck. Which Welch allegedly also swiped, just as the sergeant was moving to Oakland from the midwest earlier this month.
The alleged heist came to light when San Leandro officers arrested the 47-year-old felon on Monday in front of his house on several warrants including one alleging he violated parole for gun crimes. They did a routine search of his home on the parole rap — and that’s when they found the mound of military contraband, the department reported.

Among the recovered items was a shotgun, as well as a U.S. flag presented to the sergeant when he retired after 20 years of service that included two tours of duty in Iraq as well as deployments to Haiti, Bosnia and Kosovo. Officers also recovered a second flag given to the sergeant by a colonel after it was flown over an Army base in Iraq for nine minutes and 11 seconds in remembrance of the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attack in New York.

“Please give me a minute to take all of this in,” the sergeant — whom the department did not name — said when officers gave him back his gear and flags, according to officers.

“Words cannot describe how proud the detectives were to return the stolen belongings to a retired United States Army veteran,” said San Leandro police Lt. Robert McManus.

Welch was booked into Alameda County jail on suspicion of being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm with the serial number removed, possession of stolen property, auto theft and drug-related crimes.

http://www.sfgate.com/crime/article/Cops-Army-vet-gets-his-precious-U-S-flags-back-6334263.php