Questions surround Franklin Twp. man's gun collection
Posted: Sat Jan 31, 2009 5:49 pm
By Allison Steele and Jan Hefler
Inquirer Staff Writers
Brian Hinkle, who reportedly kept a massive arsenal of guns and ammunition on his property before police staged a raid there this week, was back at his Gloucester County home yesterday morning.
Walking with his auburn-colored retriever around the trailers and piles of clutter that dot his land on Rosemont Avenue in Franklin Township, a subdued Hinkle said he did not want to talk. As a whirring helicopter passed overhead, the former Vineland, N.J., police officer cast his eyes skyward with suspicion.
"Maybe I'm going to get hit again," said Hinkle, shaking his head. "Unbelievable."
Until this week, Hinkle, 59, lived in relative anonymity. Neighbors saw him as a kindly recluse, and neither they nor his former employers have provided any clues as to why Hinkle may have amassed such a large cache of weapons.
On Monday, Hinkle was arrested on charges of aggravated assault after allegedly drawing a gun on two New Jersey state police troopers. The officers had been questioning Hinkle about his connection to a man who is wanted for burglary.
The arrest led to the officers' discovery of Hinkle's firearms, a stockpile that authorities have said is the largest they have seen in private hands.
Hinkle had everything from World War II-era firearms to rifles and modern handguns, police said. He also had a live grenade, gunpowder, and a canister of tear gas, they said.
By the time they finished searching Hinkle's property on Thursday, officers had seized 259 guns and nearly a half-million rounds of ammunition. Some of the weapons were stored in a homemade bunker Hinkle had fashioned out of an old septic tank.
Vineland lawyer Joe O'Neill, who is representing Hinkle, would not comment on the weapons. But he disputed the allegation that Hinkle threatened two officers.
Hinkle was a police officer for 13 years, O'Neill said, and understands better than the typical person how to act in situations involving law enforcement.
"He would never attempt to pull a gun on a police officer," O'Neill said. "He knows that he could be shot if he did that. He would never be so foolish."
To neighbors, the image of Hinkle as a violent, gun-toting criminal is at odds with the gentlemanly, if extremely private, man they know.
Hinkle plowed his neighbors' driveways free of charge after it snowed and helped find missing dogs, neighbor Karen Murray said. Yet he always politely declined invitations to join her family for dinner, and he seemed to want to be left alone.
"He was friendly to everybody he spoke to, but he wasn't the kind of neighbor who would come over," Murray said. "You have to give people their privacy if that's how they like to live."
Hinkle has not been charged with illegally possessing any of the weapons found in his house. State Police Sgt. Steve Jones said that may change, depending on the outcome of the investigation.
So far, he said, police have determined that the grenade, gunpowder, tear gas and a few other items are illegal.
Hinkle has no criminal record, and neither of the police departments closest to his home have had complaints about him.
He was a police officer from 1973 until 1986, when he left the Vineland Police Department on disability, said Police Chief Timothy Codispoti. Codispoti would not comment on the nature of the disability, but others on the force have said there were no problems.
From 1990 until he retired in 2006, Hinkle worked as a vocational trainer at the Vineland Developmental Center, a residential facility for developmentally disabled women. He helped residents learn trade skills such as packaging, said Pam Ronan, a spokeswoman for the state Department of Human Services.
Inquirer Staff Writers
Brian Hinkle, who reportedly kept a massive arsenal of guns and ammunition on his property before police staged a raid there this week, was back at his Gloucester County home yesterday morning.
Walking with his auburn-colored retriever around the trailers and piles of clutter that dot his land on Rosemont Avenue in Franklin Township, a subdued Hinkle said he did not want to talk. As a whirring helicopter passed overhead, the former Vineland, N.J., police officer cast his eyes skyward with suspicion.
"Maybe I'm going to get hit again," said Hinkle, shaking his head. "Unbelievable."
Until this week, Hinkle, 59, lived in relative anonymity. Neighbors saw him as a kindly recluse, and neither they nor his former employers have provided any clues as to why Hinkle may have amassed such a large cache of weapons.
On Monday, Hinkle was arrested on charges of aggravated assault after allegedly drawing a gun on two New Jersey state police troopers. The officers had been questioning Hinkle about his connection to a man who is wanted for burglary.
The arrest led to the officers' discovery of Hinkle's firearms, a stockpile that authorities have said is the largest they have seen in private hands.
Hinkle had everything from World War II-era firearms to rifles and modern handguns, police said. He also had a live grenade, gunpowder, and a canister of tear gas, they said.
By the time they finished searching Hinkle's property on Thursday, officers had seized 259 guns and nearly a half-million rounds of ammunition. Some of the weapons were stored in a homemade bunker Hinkle had fashioned out of an old septic tank.
Vineland lawyer Joe O'Neill, who is representing Hinkle, would not comment on the weapons. But he disputed the allegation that Hinkle threatened two officers.
Hinkle was a police officer for 13 years, O'Neill said, and understands better than the typical person how to act in situations involving law enforcement.
"He would never attempt to pull a gun on a police officer," O'Neill said. "He knows that he could be shot if he did that. He would never be so foolish."
To neighbors, the image of Hinkle as a violent, gun-toting criminal is at odds with the gentlemanly, if extremely private, man they know.
Hinkle plowed his neighbors' driveways free of charge after it snowed and helped find missing dogs, neighbor Karen Murray said. Yet he always politely declined invitations to join her family for dinner, and he seemed to want to be left alone.
"He was friendly to everybody he spoke to, but he wasn't the kind of neighbor who would come over," Murray said. "You have to give people their privacy if that's how they like to live."
Hinkle has not been charged with illegally possessing any of the weapons found in his house. State Police Sgt. Steve Jones said that may change, depending on the outcome of the investigation.
So far, he said, police have determined that the grenade, gunpowder, tear gas and a few other items are illegal.
Hinkle has no criminal record, and neither of the police departments closest to his home have had complaints about him.
He was a police officer from 1973 until 1986, when he left the Vineland Police Department on disability, said Police Chief Timothy Codispoti. Codispoti would not comment on the nature of the disability, but others on the force have said there were no problems.
From 1990 until he retired in 2006, Hinkle worked as a vocational trainer at the Vineland Developmental Center, a residential facility for developmentally disabled women. He helped residents learn trade skills such as packaging, said Pam Ronan, a spokeswoman for the state Department of Human Services.