Man who oversaw police prop room on the defense

(4/26/07 - KTRK/HOUSTON) (KTRK) -- We have the latest developments on missing weapons from the Houston Police Department property room.

Right now, 19 guns are still missing; two have been found. We are learning new details about the people who were found with the stolen weapons, and what this could mean for future cases.

Two civilian city employees are suspended without pay pending the outcome of the investigation. One of them, Allen Baquet, spoke to us today. We are also learning more about the men who were caught with the missing weapons.

Allen Baquet spent the past two years overseeing the Houston police property room, and the 21 years before that working under various police chiefs including Harold Hurtt. Today we found him upset, and on the defense.

Allen Baquet: "How would you expect I would feel?"

Miya Shay: "You said you did nothing wrong."

Allen Baquet: "Nothing!"

Miya Shay: "How did the guns disappear?"

Allen Baquet: "I can't talk about this, as I've said before, but there's a thief in that place and we need to find him."

And internal affairs is investigating the 21 weapons that went missing. Two have been found. Police say a drug complaint in February led them to the 7400 block of Curry where Rodrick Davis, 19, had one of the weapons in his car. On March 8, police found another weapon in Gustave Burr's car when he was pulled over on the Eastex Freeway.

The latest debacle in the property lab was surprising to the man charged with fixing the HPD Crime Lab problem, Special Master Michael Bromich.

"Anytime you have that many weapons missing, it is extremely troubling," he said. "We are hopeful that this latest development will not delay the final investigation in to the crime lab, which we expect to wrap up by the end of May."

So what caused the current problem? Mayor Bill White says there are no easy answers, but he plans to find out what happened.

"If I knew how the guns came missing then we would cut short a long investigation, but it's going to be thorough, and there will be accountability," said White.

According to one of the reports issued by Bromwich, the Houston Police Department routinely conducted audits of its property room until 2002. It did not say why the audits stopped for several years. Meanwhile, City Controller Annise Parker says her office may begin auditing the property room in the future.
(Copyright © 2007, KTRK-TV)

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