DUVAL COUNTY, Fla. — Surveillance video from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives shows a car with a convicted felon inside talking about how he smuggles stolen guns and said: "I just take the guns and stuff them in teddy bears."
The black market trade of stolen weapons happens every day in every community. ATF agent Eric Fox said that between January 2014 and March 2015, nearly 2,000 guns were stolen in Jacksonville. Many of those weapons might have been used to commit crimes, including murder.
"Each gun in this evidence room has a story, many of them stolen from responsible gun owners and used in criminal activity," Fox said. "And that's where ATF comes in.”
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Thieves crawled through James Thomas Jr.'s air-conditioning unit and stole 10 weapons from inside his locked home.
"It's just a thing of the times. You can't have (anything any) more," Thomas said.
"ATF will utilize covert operations, interviews, search warrants or arrest warrants to try and recover those stolen weapons and try to return them to the legal owner," Fox said.
Three years later, only one of Thomas' weapons has been returned.
A career criminal used a stolen gun to kill Clay County Detective David White, who was a husband and father, in February 2012. The weapon had passed through the hands of least four people, one of whom was Curtis Dingler.
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Action News traveled to the Wakulla Correctional Institution where Dingler is serving a 15-year prison sentence. He described the process of how guns are stolen and bartered.
"I realized all the people around me (have) access to them, and they are on drugs like me," Dingler said. "So if I know, could trade a little weed or little bit of pills and get two, three guns here and there, I could play with them for a little bit. When I get tired of them, I could resell them and invest in more guns."
Dingler said he bought the gun that was used to kill White for $100 and traded it for drugs. It eventually ended up in the hands of Ted Tilley, who was shot and killed by officers moments after White's slaying.
Dingler said desperation, drugs and sometimes the rush of committing a crime fuel the gun trade.
"I get what I want and you get what you want," Dingler said. "That's the end of the story. Easy money sometimes people do it for the adrenaline."
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However, families are being forced to live with the collateral damage, including White's wife, who had to explain to her children why their father died a hero, and why tragically, he may not be the last.
"I think about it every day. I got a lot of time over it. I ain't got nothing but to think about my mistakes," Dingler said.
Ryan Wilder was convicted of first-degree murder in the death of White. In April, Chastity Prescott pleaded guilty to second-degree murder. Two others, Jerry Daniels and Jennifer Alder, are awaiting trial on murder charges.