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SLO County Sheriff’s Office employee loses gun, felon finds it

January 25, 2022

By KAREN VELIE

A San Luis Obispo County Sheriff’s Office employee left his handgun in a public bathroom at the county jail on Monday morning, after which it was promptly stolen.

Before the employee realized he had left his gun in the bathroom, a man who had just spent the night in the drunk tank spotted the gun and took it with him when he left the facility. Deputies investigating the lost gun determined Matthew Goldsmith, 51, had likely taken the firearm from the restroom.

Sheriff deputies, California Highway Patrol officers and SLO Police officers mounted a search for Goldsmith, who was located with the firearm near Santa Rosa Street and Foothill Boulevard in SLO.

Deputies arrested Goldsmith on charges of being a felon in possession of a firearm and taking lost property. He remains in jail with his bail set at $50,000.

An internal investigation into the employee leaving their gun in the restroom is ongoing.


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Oh no, not again!


12

It would seem deputies and felons shouldn’t be using the same facilities to relieve themselves. IDK?


33

>> on a bright note, at least they didn’t break into some other poor sap’s house, insist he produce the gun, arrest him and take his kids. progress, baby steps << On a BRIGHTER NOTE… at least they didn't shoot the family dog.


46

on a bright note, at least they didn’t break into some other poor sap’s house, insist he produce the gun, arrest him and take his kids. progress, baby steps.


43

Tony Cipolla started out as an aspiring LEO ,then abruptly became a newscaster then back to LE as a civilian employee at the Sheriffs Dept as public information officer at 100k plus a year .I wonder Why ?


15

Again!?! Is it really too much to ask our law enforcement to quit leaving their guns in bathrooms?


57

This rarely happens but car jacking is very common. I’d take this accident as a reminder, focus on the intentional crimes and our options to limit them.


-14

Was the gun properly secured, was the gun loaded, could a minor have potentially gained control of the weapon that some idiot with reckless and flagrant disregard for the public safety abandoned? These are the questions to ask, not start a witch hunt searching for someone who found it. Maybe the guy who found it, took it under his control to protect children and he hadn’t determined when and where to take it. Not, like there is a beacon sign in SLO town that says, “Found a Gun”, “Found an abandoned firearm that some idiot LEO carelessly left please take to Ian Parkinson’s house to drop off, no questions will be asked.” Maybe, the City should sponsor a drop off location!


-10

Found it at the jail and decided to carry it away? He’s a felon, and has no business touching it. And there’s law enforcement RIGHT THERE to report it to. He’s a criminal dirt bag.


27

Yes, but by the same token, he’s already a felon, and so probably has fewer qualms about taking a firearm he shouldn’t have. What did we expect, really


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