Man sentenced for stealing police rifle during protests
SEATTLE (AP) — A 26-year-old Everett, Washington man was sentenced Friday to 16 months in prison for stealing a high-powered rifle from a Seattle police vehicle during protests after George Floyd was killed in 2020.
Jacob D. Little pulled the rifle out of a heavily damaged police car that was parked outside the Nordstrom store on May 30, 2020, the U.S. Attorney’s office said in a press release. He then sold the firearm to an acquaintance who suffered from mental health issues, prosecutors said.
Assistant United States Attorney Kate Crisham told the court at sentencing that Little “was one of a handful of people who hijacked the peaceful protest and made it dangerous.”
The gun buyer buried the gun on his grandparents’ property in Snohomish County and later dug it up after threatening his girlfriend, she said. Police were able to seize the weapon before it was used in a crime.
“You didn’t care (who you sold it to) as long as you got paid,” Judge Richard Jones said at the sentencing. Jones said the court needs to protect the community from similar actions.
Little has since been charged in a separate case, prosecutors said. Police say he fired a gun into a crowd of people in Renton in August 2020, killing one and injuring another.
