Last night we broke the story that Said Perdomo's 9 millimeter Glock pistol has gone missing, disappeared from the office of police armorer Albert Ciego. Tonight the news is that Ciego is at the center of an internal affairs investigation and a CIB investigation into the missing gun. Perdomo who was questioned in connection with the May 13th murder of the Brannon brothers surrendered his black Glock 9 millimeter pistol to investigators on May 30th. The gun was tested and cleared, meaning it wasn't involved in the murder, and Perdomo was supposed to get it back on June 1st. But his attorney Michael Peyrefitte says when they asked Ciego to show them the gun, he simply couldn't.
Michael Peyrefitte, Said Perdomo's Attorney
"Mr. Ciego was summoned to the officer in charge's office along with myself and Said Perdomo and he was told to go and get the firearm. Mr. Ciego never returned with the firearm. This was about twelve in the afternoon. He never returned with the firearm and after repeatedly trying to get in touch with him to turn over the firearm, he just never did and then yesterday I found out that the official story is that the firearm was lost. At this stage we are all confused in the sense that the police had deemed the firearm clean, it was only a matter of retrieving the firearm from the force armorer which we have not been able to do."
Keith Swift,
What do you believe happened to the firearm?
Michael Peyrefitte,
"Your guess is as good as mine. It's kind of difficult to accidentally lose a 9-millimeter pistol. It is a very cumbersome pistol, it's very difficult to misplace. My gut reaction has to be that what has happened with this firearm is not an accident."
Keith Swift,
I imagine your client wants back his firearm.
Michael Peyrefitte,
"Of course he wants back his firearm. He obtained the firearm a good while ago for special protection and so he is a businessman and he wants his firearm. The police was willing to give it back to him but the official position from the police is that the force armorer is not in possession of the firearm and he is in charge of the firearm. We have cooperated with the police from the very beginning. We have turned ourselves in at every occasion and whenever there was a request from the Police Department, especially with the firearm, we have complied with every request and Said Perdomo's firearm was cleared, it was ordered to be released and returned to him, and then it was lost. It is unacceptable."
Head of the Criminal Investigations Branch ASP Chester Williams today confirmed that the Perdomo's firearm had been cleared by Ciego and that it was in the custody of the force armorer who shares an office with the Forensic Department. Press Officer G. Michael Reid described Ciego's actions as "totally careless." As we understand it, while many traffic in and out of the forensic department and there are a number of keys circulating, the gun was not locked in a secure cabinet.
The gun is valued at $3,000. We should note that when Perdomo was first detained, he offered his gun to police but they declined. When he was detained two weeks later, police then requested the gun. Perdomo was never charged; he was only questioned for the murder of Phillip and Kevin Brannon because he is a close associate of the accused men.
