Ohio cop arrested for selling guns to felons

Kevin Lumpkin, 29, was a North Randall police officer when he allegedly sold guns to felons. (Photo: FBI)

Federal agents arrested a Cleveland-area police officer last week on charges of selling guns to known felons and shooting a hole in their wall while in uniform.

According to the criminal complaint filed in an Ohio federal court last week, two felons who cooperated with local and federal law enforcement said they bought guns from Kevin Ryan Lumpkin, 29, who was a police officer in North Randall at the time. The felons were not identified by name in court documents.

Investigators say Lumpkin installed a security camera at the felons’ home in 2012 after one of them was shot when robbers broke into their house. At that time, Lumpkin also supplied them with a catalog of firearms to browse.

With Lumpkin’s help, the pair collected handguns, rifles, a short-barreled shotgun, and a bulletproof vest, the complaint says.

However, in that same year a dispute with the felons led to Lumpkin, while in uniform, firing a round from his service weapon inside the home, the complaint says. The round struck a wall in the basement and was never repaired.

In 2013, Cleveland police responded to a domestic violence dispute in which they searched the home and recovered several firearms and boxes to firearms. Authorities traced serial numbers on the guns and learned that Lumpkin was the original buyer.

A year later police in the neighboring town of Solon recovered a handgun with a serial number matching one of the boxes found at the home. Officers took the gun off of a suspect who had an outstanding warrant.

Lumpkin told investigators that he had known the two felons since 2006 and would play video games in their basement, but had not talked to them in three years. He also admitted to buying firearms that were recovered at their home but believed the guns had been stolen from him even though he never reported them stolen or missing.

When investigators showed him a picture of the wall with a bullet hole in it, he said he recognized the location, but when asked how the bullet hole got there, he replied, “Why would I say that?”

When they asked Lumpkin to be honest about the circumstances surrounding the bullet hole, he said, “What does being honest get me?”