Choctaw police look to clear out backlog of unclaimed property

Spring cleaning uncovered the collection of guns, cash, paperwork and other odds and ends in several storage closets and shelving areas at police headquarters, a converted hardware store on NE 23.

Clay said his staff worked about two months inventorying the property, and then waited several months for a judge to approve their disposition. The stuff worth salvaging — like tools and bicycles — will be auctioned or given away; most of the weaponry will be sawed in half and buried.

“Once I get all this stuff taken care of it will reduce my property significantly and then we'll have a centralized place with a security camera,” Clay said.

The list of property to be disposed of is 218 items long. It includes 52 guns, 6 knives, four swords, a crossbow, a compound bow and a machete (with sheath). It includes five watches, 17 bikes, six sets of skis (two with poles), a toy robot, an OSU autographed football, an all-terrain vehicle and a World's Fair coin (no monetary value provided.)

The list also includes $6,147 in cash, several wallets and a money clip.

There is no case number attached to about a third of the items on the list. Many of these lost evidence tags when the old police department on Main Street — vacated by the department in 2002 — was hit by a tornado, Clay said.