Boy, 13, Arrested on Suspicion of Stealing Bronze Dove from Statue for Detective Slain in Dorner Shootout

A middle school student was arrested Nov. 20 on suspicion of stealing a bronze dove from a statue memorial for San Bernardino County sheriff's Detective Jeremiah MacKay, who was fatally wounded in the final shootout with rogue ex-LAPD cop Christopher Dorner, a sheriff's captain said Thursday.

The statue was reported stolen from the granite base of the Jeremiah MacKay statue in Lake Arrowhead Village between Sunday Sept. 8 and Monday Sept. 9, sheriff's officials said.

On Tuesday Nov. 19, "a citizen contacted the Twin Peaks Station to report a male juvenile was posting on the photo sharing website, Instagram, bragging he had stolen the dove," sheriff's officials said.

Although the boy had used an alias, detectives identified him and arrested him at a middle school in Lake Elsinore on Wednesday, Capt. Rick Ells of the sheriff's Twin Peaks Station told Patch in a phone interview.

"A search of his residence was conducted and the dove was located in the juvenile's bedroom inside a shoebox," sheriff's officials said. "Both the juvenile and the parent were issued citations."

The boy is 13 years old and his name could not be released because of his age, Ells said.

"The kid posted photos of the dove and himself on Instagram, using another name," Ells said. "Somebody warned him on Instagram law enforcement was looking for the dove, and he went on to state he wasn't afraid of law enforcement."

The dove will be restored to the statue in the near future, Ells said. The statue memorializing MacKay was unveiled Sept. 1.

MacKay was a Redlands resident, he worked in Big Bear and Yucaipa, and he was a 15-year veteran with the San Bernardino County sheriff's department. He was fatally wounded in the final confrontation with Dorner east of Angelus Oaks, off Highway 38, in February.

MacKay was one of two law enforcement officers killed in the line of duty during Dorner's rampage. Both lawmen had local ties to Redlands and Yucaipa. Authorities believe Dorner was accountable for four killings in the space of ten days: a former LAPD captain's daughter and her fiancé in Irvine on Feb. 3, Riverside police Officer Michael Crain on Feb. 7, and MacKay on Feb. 12.