Habersham County’s chief deputy says the sheriff’s office is investigating the disappearance of a government-issued firearm. Deputy Dakota Nguyen reported his gun missing on July 5, 2022, one week after an incident in which Col. Murray Kogod says Nguyen may have lost it.
“The weapon in question is believed to have fallen off the deputy’s ankle during a K-9 track and foot pursuit of a male that had run from a traffic stop. The suspect had run into a heavily wooded area and was wading through mud well over his waistline during the pursuit,” Kogod tells Now Habersham.
According to the incident report, Nguyen states the last time he wore his government-issued Glock 43 was on duty during the foot pursuit on Sutton Road in Demorest on June 27. “Since that date, I have not been able to locate the firearm,” he states. Deputy Nguyen goes on to state that he informed his supervisor, Sgt. Brian Collins, about the missing gun on July 4. The following day, Nguyen says, “I was instructed to complete an incident report in reference to a lost/missing firearm.”
Now Habersham reached out to Habersham County Sheriff Joey Terrell about the incident, but he refused to comment, instead referring the matter to Col. Kogod. The chief deputy says efforts were made to find the missing weapon.
“Just to be sure that the gun was lost in the pursuit rather than inadvertently left in the deputy’s residence or in his patrol vehicle, the deputy was given instructions to re-check his residence and vehicle numerous times. None of these checks resulted in the weapon be [sic] located,” Kogod says in his emailed response.
“Upon verifying that the weapon had fallen off during the pursuit, the Habersham County Sheriff’s Office requested that Habersham County Sheriff’s Office K-9 Handler Eugene Kemp and his explosive/gunpowder detection dog (Roxy) sweep the path of the chase in an attempt to locate the weapon. This search was unsuccessful in locating the weapon.”
Now Habersham followed up with Kogod asking why it took a week for the deputy to report the weapon’s disappearance. He has not responded. He did, however, issue an appeal to the public: “Should anyone from the public discover this or any other weapon, we urge them to refrain from handling the weapon, immediately contact 911, and request that a deputy respond to the location.”
Kogod says the incident remains under investigation.
