Son charged after cop’s duty weapon disappears

A Gaffney police officer’s son is one of two teens charged in connection with the theft of the officer’s duty weapon late Friday.

Detective Capt. Chris Skinner of the Gaffney Police Department on Tuesday charged 17-year-old Zactrick Jefferies, of 109 Flint St. with receiving stolen goods. The officer’s juvenile son, who is 16, has been charged with larceny. He has been released to the custody of his parents while awaiting a hearing in Juvenile Court.

The weapon was recovered in some bushes near Limestone Courts Apartments at 4 a.m. Saturday, said Gaffney Police Chief John O’Donald.

“Our main focus was to retrieve the weapon, we didn’t want anyone to get hurt,” O’Donald said. “And the officers did a fine job in retrieving the weapon.”

Officer Sam Scruggs had his duty weapon and personal weapon in a locked box in his home, O’Donald said. The officer’s son took the weapon from the locked box and went downtown where some people were playing basketball to show it off, the chief said. Police said they have witnesses who claim they saw Jefferies take the weapon and refuse to return it.

After officers discovered the weapon was missing, Capt. Brooks Allison of the Gaffney Police Department went to Jefferies’ home and knocked on the front door. The boy’s mother answered and told him her son was sitting in an SUV in the driveway.

Police transported both boys in a civilian vehicle to the area near Limestone Courts to look for the weapon, but could not locate it, O’Donald said. The boys were brought to the police department to be interviewed, and after Jefferies made a phone call, officers returned to the same location and located the weapon.