Police: Riding mower thief didn't get far

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SPOKANE, Wash., July 9 (UPI) -- Spokane, Wash., police say they arrested a man they allege burglarized a home and made his getaway with guns and money on a riding mower.

Police said in a release Monday Robert More, 22, admitted stealing the guns because he was prohibiting from owning a firearm legally, and he wanted one.

Police said the victimized couple discovered the loss Thursday evening when they returned from a Fourth of July holiday.

Sheriff's deputies had already recovered the lawnmower when the call came in from the victims, and had impounded it for safekeeping, since it had not yet been reported stolen when officers found it abandoned about 7 miles from the home where it been stolen. Police found the lawnmower after receiving a call about 9 a.m. about a suspicious person riding a lawnmower and carrying a rifle or shotgun.

Deputies started getting more calls about a suspicious person Thursday afternoon and found Morey sitting on an embankment. As they spoke with him they confirmed there was an outstanding warrant for his arrest.

Morey told police he had been arguing with his girlfriend and she put him out of the car on "some road." He said he saw an open garage door and took the lawnmower, the firearms and the coins.

He told deputies he was not legally permitted to own a gun but he wanted one, so he took the firearms. He said he abandoned the riding mower when it ran out of gas.

Morey was being held on multiple charges, including unlawful possession of a firearm, first-degree burglary and theft of a firearm.