Video gives first look at damage to priceless cannon stolen in Wichita to pay meth debt
A video released Wednesday by Wichita police gives a first look at the damage done to the priceless Spanish-American War cannon stolen from Central Riverside Park last month and dragged behind an SUV for more than a mile.
It also features surveillance footage showing the cannon being dragged down the road, leaving gouges and marks from the teal-colored cannon all the way to the house where it was taken.
Gordon L. Pierce III, who has been charged in the early morning April 2 theft, is accused of cutting up the cannon with plans to sell the metal to pay back a $20,000 methamphetamine debt after friends robbed him of the drugs, according to details he gave police that are outlined in a probable cause affidavit.
Pierce said he paid a homeless man in meth and a pipe to help him steal the 800-pound cannon, but, after smoking meth and then ripping it off the granite pedestal, they found it was too heavy to lift into the back of his Chevrolet Tahoe, so he towed it behind, the court document says.
An image of the damaged cannon shows a large chunk of the front had been cut off.
The police department released the video as part of a series called Well Done Wednesday, which highlights the work of officers.
The cannon, forged for the king of Spain in 1794, was the centerpiece of the Spanish-American War Memorial at Central Riverside Park. It was gifted to the city and installed in 1901 after being taken as a wartime trophy by American soldiers in Cuba three years earlier, in 1898. Among its unique features is an intricate filigree design of the Spanish king’s seal hand-carved into its muzzle.
The city considers the war cannon priceless because it cannot be remade or replaced. When asked to estimate its value, one city staffer told police similar cannons had sold at auction for more than $100,000 — and it could be worth upward of a half million dollars, the affidavit says.
Damage to its granite pedestal is estimated at approximately $10,000.
Contributing: Amy Renee Leiker with The Eagle