kthom
Member
Here is a Puma that I've "owned" since about 1973. Don't know when it was available for sale, but surely before that time. A bit of a story goes along with my possession of this very good (IMO) knife. Got a call one night from folks reporting someone breaking into their neighbor's home while they were away on vacation. I got to the scene about the same time as another officer. He took the front and I took the rear of the residence to investigate. As I came to a stop in the long alleyway behind the property, a young fellow burst through the back gate, saw me, and immediately beat feet away from me down the alley. I gave chase not doing much more than maintaining the interval between us. There was enough ambient light to see the lad and to see where we were going. As the miscreant approached the end of the alley, a third officer arrived on the scene to also enter the alley and the young fellow ran into the side of his howl car, fell down, and was immediately taken into custody.
Turns out this young man, aged 17, had a fairly long record of such conduct. He was also big as a grown man and pretty stout. I arrived just as the third officer was perched atop the miscreant attempting to get his arms behind his back to put the cuffs on so I assisted him with that. We seatbelted him in the back seat of the howl car for safekeeping while we conducted further information.
As I was chasing the lad down the alley, I saw something shiney fly from the lad into the weeds at the edge of the alley and heard it hit the fence and fall to the ground. I made my way back up the alley toward the home to help the first officer on the scene. We thoroughly searched the home, found no other persons present, and found that the miscreant had only short time to conduct his search of the property there. After completing our investigation of the premises, getting contact info for the property owners, and securing the home, we departed to the station to finish booking the lad. Prior to my departure, I searched the alley for the item that I saw and heard hit the ground. I found this Puma knife during that search.
At the station, as we inventoried the young man's property, we found a couple of nice necklaces and some rings in his pocket. I showed him the knife and asked if it was his. He claimed no knowledge of it, of course, and I didn't actually see the knife leave his hands, although there was no doubt that the knife didn't just fall out of the sky. When the property owners returned home, they identified the items found in the boy's pockets as their own, but had no knowledge of the knife. I asked the juvenile's dad if he had ever seen this knife or if it was his or the boy's property. The dad claimed that he had never seen it. Not much doubt that the boy had taken it from some other person's home during his night time visitations to their property. I made note of the incident in my report and I maintained possession of the knife for about a year in case it was reported from some other burglary. The case was handled by the juvenile authorites and closed. I asked the judge what dispostion he wanted to be made of the knife. Since it was incidental to the case and had not been used in any illegal way during the incident, and because it was not found on the boy's person at the time of arrest, the judge declared that what I found after the fact might or might not have been what I heard hit the ground that the boy obviously threw down. I had searched the alley again after first light the morning after the incident and found no other thing that might have been thrown. So the judge stated that it appeared to him that I had found a nice knife that had not been claimed by any one for the year period after the incident and that if I wanted it, I should just keep it. I was happy to do so!
This is one of only a few knives of this quality that I ever had the opportunity to handle during the many investigations I was involved in over the years. It has been in my possession, used, and enjoyed since the time I first picked it up out of that alley. I had the kydex sheath made by Blade Tech after it became permanently mine. I actually mailed the knife to them and they built the sheath around the knife, so it fits really well and very securely. It's a treasure by itself, but moreso because of where, when, and how I came into possession of it. It's got a great set of stag scales, it's very well constructed, and has a great deal of utility for me. It also sharpens very well. I haven't ever researched it to see if I can find any information about it's date of manufacture. There is a serial number stamped on the knife and perhaps it might be worth my time to do so. Maybe I will. So here are pictures of the knife with my long story. Hope you enjoy both!
Turns out this young man, aged 17, had a fairly long record of such conduct. He was also big as a grown man and pretty stout. I arrived just as the third officer was perched atop the miscreant attempting to get his arms behind his back to put the cuffs on so I assisted him with that. We seatbelted him in the back seat of the howl car for safekeeping while we conducted further information.
As I was chasing the lad down the alley, I saw something shiney fly from the lad into the weeds at the edge of the alley and heard it hit the fence and fall to the ground. I made my way back up the alley toward the home to help the first officer on the scene. We thoroughly searched the home, found no other persons present, and found that the miscreant had only short time to conduct his search of the property there. After completing our investigation of the premises, getting contact info for the property owners, and securing the home, we departed to the station to finish booking the lad. Prior to my departure, I searched the alley for the item that I saw and heard hit the ground. I found this Puma knife during that search.
At the station, as we inventoried the young man's property, we found a couple of nice necklaces and some rings in his pocket. I showed him the knife and asked if it was his. He claimed no knowledge of it, of course, and I didn't actually see the knife leave his hands, although there was no doubt that the knife didn't just fall out of the sky. When the property owners returned home, they identified the items found in the boy's pockets as their own, but had no knowledge of the knife. I asked the juvenile's dad if he had ever seen this knife or if it was his or the boy's property. The dad claimed that he had never seen it. Not much doubt that the boy had taken it from some other person's home during his night time visitations to their property. I made note of the incident in my report and I maintained possession of the knife for about a year in case it was reported from some other burglary. The case was handled by the juvenile authorites and closed. I asked the judge what dispostion he wanted to be made of the knife. Since it was incidental to the case and had not been used in any illegal way during the incident, and because it was not found on the boy's person at the time of arrest, the judge declared that what I found after the fact might or might not have been what I heard hit the ground that the boy obviously threw down. I had searched the alley again after first light the morning after the incident and found no other thing that might have been thrown. So the judge stated that it appeared to him that I had found a nice knife that had not been claimed by any one for the year period after the incident and that if I wanted it, I should just keep it. I was happy to do so!
This is one of only a few knives of this quality that I ever had the opportunity to handle during the many investigations I was involved in over the years. It has been in my possession, used, and enjoyed since the time I first picked it up out of that alley. I had the kydex sheath made by Blade Tech after it became permanently mine. I actually mailed the knife to them and they built the sheath around the knife, so it fits really well and very securely. It's a treasure by itself, but moreso because of where, when, and how I came into possession of it. It's got a great set of stag scales, it's very well constructed, and has a great deal of utility for me. It also sharpens very well. I haven't ever researched it to see if I can find any information about it's date of manufacture. There is a serial number stamped on the knife and perhaps it might be worth my time to do so. Maybe I will. So here are pictures of the knife with my long story. Hope you enjoy both!
— and especially on knives. I always enjoy his posts, and find some of his more elaborate digressions (South African beauty queens, English teas, etc.) entertaining.
