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Prosecutors: Fired Police Chief Sold Stolen Guns

Resident turns the tables on former top cop

By Ashley E. Brown

| Tuesday, Nov 17, 2009 | Updated 8:15 PM EST

Prosecutors: Fired Police Chief Sold Stolen Guns

The former police chief of Morningside, Md. was indicted Tuesday, on charges and accusations that he stole weapons from his department and sold them out of the back of his car.

Stealing guns from law enforcement and selling them out of the trunk of your car: All in a day's work for one former chief of police in Prince George's County?

Perhaps, if the former top cop in question worked in the small town of Morningside, Md.

A county grand jury indicted 30-year-old David Eichelberger Jr. on weapons charges Tuesday. According to court documents, Eichelberger sold a handgun and a shotgun out of the trunk of his car -- weapons the Morningside Police Dept. apparently seized from other crime investigations.

It was a Morningside resident who turned the tables on Eichelberger, by writing in a tip to the city's mayor about the former chief's alleged side-hustle. Eichelberger was fired in October after reports about the weapons investigation surfaced.

Eichelberger had no immediate comment on his indictment. But many of Morningside's 2,000 or so residents were buzzing about the case Tuesday.

"It's not really a good thing to do stuff like that when we have teenagers around here," said Morningside local Mary Rhodes. "[Young people] look up to people like [Eichelberger]. It's just wrong."

Resident Charles Kent said what we've been thinking since we heard this story:

"He should have known better."

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Former Police Chief Indicted for Selling Stolen Guns