VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (WAVY) — Three teens were arrested for breaking into cars and stealing guns on 27th-1/2 Street near the Oceanfront over the weekend. It comes after the police chief talked about this very issue just a few days ago.
Virginia Beach Police Chief Paul Neudigate told City Council there’s not a day that goes by where his officers don’t see juveniles with stolen guns on social media. Many of those firearms, the chief told council, rival those of the police department.
“We are very diligent and very proactive in trying to take illegally possessed guns out of the hands of juveniles in our community,” Neudigate said during a council work session.
Saturday night, police were called to the 400 block of 27th-1/2 Street after a group of teens broke into a parked car. Officers later arrested two 17-year-olds and a 16-year-old. The group had two stolen firearms.
“If I gave you a presentation and I showed you some of the Instagram posts that we see on the daily of young people in Virginia Beach with guns, with guns that rival the quality and caliber of what our officers carry, many times with high-capacity magazines, it’s quite [disconcerning],” Neudigate said.
10 On Your Side canvassed the neighborhood where the firearms were stolen. Several short-term rentals and apartments made up the block. The people we spoke with off camera were not aware of the crime.
Neudigate urges city residents and visitors to practice responsible gun ownership.
“Leaving those unsecured and unprotected in the vehicles, we’ve implored our community not to do it,” Neudigate said, “but what we are seeing on the back end, those guns that you are leaving in your car are ending up in the hands of folks in the city of Virginia Beach and out outlying communities that should not have them and then they’re being used in these crimes.”
Neudigate revealed that in one out of every 10 car breakins, a gun is stolen.