Former Kansas police officer loses license after pawning off department’s firearms
A former Sedgwick Police Department lieutenant has lost his certification after pawning the rifle he had been issued and multiple other firearms owned by the department, according to a report released in May.
Brilan Marks said in an interview with the Harvey County Sheriff’s Office that he pawned the guns because “he was struggling financially, but that he intended to get them back,” according to a May 29 report from the Kansas Commission on Peace Officers’ Standards and Training, which oversees police certifications.
He did not respond to a phone call and message seeking comment for this story.
He also did not show up for a scheduled interview with KS-CPOST. Not showing up to an interview or cooperating with a CPOST investigation can cause an officer to lose their law enforcement certification.
Officials discovered guns were missing after an inventory of department guns did not turn up Marks’ patrol rifle, which had been “missing for quite some time,” the report says.
He worked for the Sedgwick Police Department from July 5, 2017 to July 25, 2018, the report says. He was arrested on his last day with the department and accused of felony theft.
At least two of the guns were pawned in February 2018 and November 2017, according to court documents. A court document mentions pawn slips from A-OK pawn shop, which has multiple locations in Wichita.
A criminal investigation conducted by the Harvey County Sheriff’s Office determined that the missing rifle, along with other department firearms, had been pawned by Marks, according to the report.
At the time of the incident, Sedgwick city officials did not say what was taken, but said it was over $1,000 in value.
Four counts of theft — three felony and one misdemeanor — against Marks were dismissed in February after his attorney asked Harvey County District Court Judge Michael Llamas to do so because the case had dragged on since August 2020.