Evidence
Judge Discovers His Gavel Is Missing; Court Personnel Track Down Suspect, Now Charged with Theft
Discovering that his gavel was missing, Magistrate Daniel Cook of Lorain, Ohio, concluded that someone had to have stolen it from his small claims court.
Sure enough, when workers there reviewed security footage they spotted a suspect allegedly making off with the purloined court equipment, reports the Smoking Gun.
Although the man wasn’t known to them, he was with a defendant and further investigation soon identified his companion.
Christopher Collins has now been charged with petty theft.
