Officials: Vehicle, gun stolen from HamCo. Sheriff's driveway

HAMILTON COUNTY, Ohio — Hamilton County Sheriff Charmaine McGuffey's assigned county vehicle was stolen from her home driveway early Saturday morning, the sheriff's office announced Sunday afternoon.

Officials said McGuffey's duty weapon, which was locked inside the vehicle, is missing at this time.

“It’s not a good feeling," she said. "And I’m sure there are other people out there that can relate to having a crime committed against them and that’s exactly what this is.

McGuffey said she responded to an incident Friday night and parked her vehicle in her driveway. She left her handgun in a compartment in the vehicle, not in plain sight. She said she wasn’t sure if she locked the compartment or not.

Officials said the vehicle was reported stolen from the Columbia Tusculum area around 8:00 a.m. Saturday morning and was recovered in Winton Terrace around 1:00 p.m. the same day.

“Apparently there are ways that some of these criminals can override that key fob," McGuffey said. “I don’t know that for a fact, but I have to assume that’s what happened.”

Currently, McGuffey is attending a sheriff’s conference in Arizona. She said it's not unusual for law enforcement officials to leave their weapons in a vehicle.

“Depending on what their assignments are, they will have weapons locked in the vehicle so that they have easy access to them 24 hours a day,” McGuffey said.

She said that her conduct was not inappropriate and there was no wrongdoing on her part.

“I can tell you that there have been many police officers that have had weapons stolen from their vehicles and various gear and things like that,” McGuffey said. “I have not and would not discipline someone based on those facts alone.”

Authorities are still looking for a suspect and the sheriff's handgun.