While as many as seven people were detained, there were no arrests – a clear sign, department insiders say, that they had a deal with somebody to get the weapon back with no questions asked. [Matier and Ross/Chron]

What did police have to do to get back that assault rifle stolen from a locked SFPD car (hey, don’t the cops tell us not to leave iPads and stuff in the car? Guess a gun’s OK, though)?

They aren’t telling, but folks Marier and Ross spoke with said the police “No resources were spared,” and that “it’s likely [SFPD] paid for the key information they got.” Try not to think about that the next time your car’s broken into and you can’t get any police officers to come out to investigate.

the author

Eve Batey is the editor and publisher of the San Francisco Appeal. She used to be the San Francisco Chronicle's Deputy Managing Editor for Online, and started at the Chronicle as their blogging and interactive editor. Before that, she was a co-founding writer and the lead editor of SFist. She's been in the city since 1997, presently living in the Outer Sunset with her husband, cat, and dog. You can reach Eve at eve@sfappeal.com.

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