Boom! Missing Burlington cannon turns up

When a small, rusted cannon came into his Pine Street store in mid-July, owner Steve Conant had a hunch the antique might be stolen.

Almost three weeks later, he found out he was right.

The 1920s era cast iron cannon belonged to Riverside Avenue resident Kip de Moll. The relic was reported stolen July 17 from his front porch in broad daylight. This is the second time the cannon has been swiped in seven years.

“It’s too amazing that we’ve gotten it back twice,” de Moll said.

One of two men suspected of taking the couple-hundred-pound cast-iron cannon went to Conant’s store, Conant Metal and Light, the day of the theft and sold the antique for $150, Conant said Tuesday.

Burlington police said arrest warrants have been obtained for David Brooks, 48, and Leonard Bessette, 54, both of Burlington.

The warrants are for charges of petty larceny (valued under $900) and anybody knowing their whereabouts is asked to call police at 658-2700, Lt. Shawn Burke said.

Conant said his suspicions are heightened “when someone pulls up with something in the back of their car and they want to make a quick deal.”

In this case, Conant said, he went through with the deal while planning to call the police afterward to check on the status of the cannon.

“We took down his name,” Conant said of the suspect. “He told us so much about himself. ... He told us where his mom works. He was riding up in plain daylight and was engaging with us.”

Conant had planned to call the police about the cannon, but other work got in the way — until an employee alerted him to a story in the Burlington Free Press. In retrospect, Conant said, he should have taken the man’s address and phone number.

Conant called Burlington Police on Tuesday morning, and the authorities notified de Moll shortly after. Within 10 minutes, de Moll was at Conant Metal and Light to load the cannon into the bed of his truck. He also learned Conant’s wife had been his son’s high school art teacher.

“It’s amazing,” de Moll said. “Luck is good. I was hoping this would restore my faith in the community, and what better thing than to have my son’s art teacher connected to the people who found it?”

Restoration technician Jonathan Ward is a cannon collector, and he was planning to buy the cannon if it turned out not to be stolen. Ward had started to work on restoring the cannon but then a friend brought the Free Press story to his attention. Ward told Conant on Monday night.

“I was like, ‘Wow, okay. That answers a big question,’” Ward said. “I’m glad it went back to where it belongs.”

The cannon is a family heirloom that was given to de Moll’s industrialist grandfather. It had previously been attached to a ship as a way to shoot a ball of rope from one vessel to another. The cannon stands about 18 inches off the ground, has a 3-foot barrel, and weighs a few hundred pounds.

This is the second time the cannon has been stolen from de Moll. The first time, in 2008, someone took the antique from de Moll’s yard. One day after a story appeared in the Burlington Free Press, the cannon was found about 400 yards from de Moll’s home resting near a headstone inside the St. Joseph Cemetery on Archibald Street.

The cannon traveled a bit farther this time. One of de Moll’s neighbors had recognized two men walking away with the cannon but was unsure why they were at de Moll’s house, Burlington police said last week.

The men also took two other items from de Moll, he said. A Coors Light sign also was dropped off, but Conant said it was broken and ended up in the trash. The seller also attempted unsuccessfully to sell an air conditioner.

De Moll had placed the cannon on his porch after the first theft for increased safety, but he did not bolt down the antique. He said he most likely will place the cannon in a concrete pad in his yard this time to prevent a third incident. He said the cannon was a good way to meet neighbors when it was in his yard, and he wanted to have that connection once more.

Burlington Police Officer James Wu said he applied for arrest warrants last week for the two men, who are known to police for previous burglaries.

Burlington police sent a news release Tuesday evening, following publication of this story online, saying the suspects remain at large and asking that anyone with information to call police at 658-2700.

In the meantime, de Moll is glad his family heirloom is back.

“This is just one more reason to be in Burlington, because it’s small enough that there’s this connection all the way around,” de Moll told the Burlington Free Press. “I wouldn’t have gotten it back without you guys putting it out there.”

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This story was first posted online on August 4, 2015. Contact Elizabeth Murray at 651-4835 or emurray@freepressmedia.com. Follow her on Twitter at www.twitter.com/LizMurraySMC.