Dallas Co. Sheriff's Dept. Military-Style Rifle Found In Arlington

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DALLAS (CBSDFW.COM) - There are new concerns after the Dallas County Sheriff's Department allowed a dangerous, military-style rifle to get out on the street illegally for more than a year until it was recently found and returned.

When Former Dallas County Sheriff's Deputy Michael Bellard was arrested by Grand Prairie Police for a DWI in 2014, he was fired.

But sources say he never turned in the AR-15 M4 rifle he was assigned by the SWAT division and required to surrender.

"It is a big screw-up, it's a big screw-up, it's a big mistake that the department has made by not making sure that the gun was turned in," said Bart Terrell a retired Dallas County Sheriff's Deputy.

Bart Terrell was the head of internal affairs until he retired from the Sheriff's Department four years ago. He says its not only unacceptable for the gun to be taken, but also for it to go unnoticed for over a year.

"If I was still with the department it would be a serious infraction to have that not checked in," said Terrell.  "The department has a little responsibility to go track that gun down."

Sources say the gun was found abandoned at an Arlington security company where Bellard worked before it suddenly went out of business.

The Dallas County Sheriff's Department released this statement on the matter"

"This incident has prompted us to conduct an inventory of our weapons in each division, including warrants. We will know more once the inventory is complete. Our policy is also being refined to ensure that another incident with a missing weapon does not occur."

CBS11 was unable to find the former deputy who took the gun.

Several current and retired deputies say they believe Bellard should face charges and are surprised he isn't.

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