SLO County sheriff’s employee left gun in jail lobby bathroom. Here’s who found it
A civilian employee with the San Luis Obispo County Sheriff’s Office left their firearm unattended in the bathroom at the lobby of the jail on Monday. Soon after, the firearm was allegedly taken by an inmate recently released from the jail.
The Sheriff’s office employee had a concealed weapons permit and left this firearm in the bathroom while taking a COVID test, according to a news release from the Sheriff’s Office.
Matthew Goldsmith, 51, is believed to have taken the weapon and left in his vehicle, driving toward San Luis Obispo after being released from jail. He was arrested on Sunday for being drunk in public, the release said.
The news release did not specify how long it took the Sheriff’s Office employee to realize the gun had been taken.
Once they realized, Sheriff’s Office deputies, California Highway Patrol officers and the officers from the San Luis Obispo Police Department searched for Goldsmith, who was suspected of taking the firearm from the bathroom.
It took about 45 minutes for Goldsmith to be located at Santa Rosa Street and Foothill Boulevard, where the firearm was recovered.
Goldsmith was arrested on charges of being a felon in possession of a firearm, the release said.
The Sheriff’s Office is conducting a criminal investigation as well as an internal investigation of the civilian employee.
SLO police chief left gun in restaurant restroom
This is not the first time a law enforcement officer left a firearm in the bathroom unattended and then had it taken.
Former San Luis Obispo Police Chief Deanna Cantrell left her gun unattended in the restroom of an El Pollo Loco restaurant in 2019.
The incident escalated when officers searching for the missing weapon ended up at the home of Cheyne Orndoff, which they entered without a warrant because they mistakenly thought Orndoff was on probation, according to a past Tribune report.
Eventually, the gun was recovered from Los Osos resident Skeeter Mangan.
Cantrell left her job as San Luis Obispo Police Chief after weathering multiple controversies, including the missing gun incident, after five years in the role.
This story was originally published January 24, 2022 at 2:02 PM.
