Page 50 - December 2015

When Russ Mallek learned a rifle his shop sold to a Chicago Police Department officer had been stolen from a police SUV on the Northwest Side Oct. 16, he immediately started building a new gun to the same specs. From scratch. For free.
Even though the rifle no longer belonged to its original owner – it had been sold to another member of the Chicago Police Depart- ment, Officer Jeff Muehlfelder – “We honored the warranty because it was one of our rifles,” advised Mallek, Pro Shop manager and cus- tom builder for DS Arms, a firearms manufacturer in Lake Barring- ton.
“He was not anticipating a complete, brand new rifle handed over to him,” Mallek explained. “It’s a rare occurrence for a company to do that. We had contacted (Muehlfelder) within 12 hours of being notified the rifle had been stolen and we built a brand new one from scratch for him.
“This is our standard quality warranty service we do for law enforcement. They put their lives on the line every day, so we stand by every firearm ever sold to an officer,” Mallek continued. “This is our no-questions-asked warranty. We always used to joke, if some- body stole a rifle out of their hands and ran away and they didn’t catch him, we would replace it. We’ve always had an unprecedented warranty because we realize how vital the rifle is for the users.”
Russ Mallek of DS Arms, left, presented a free replacement rifle to Chicago Officer Jeff Muehlfelder four days after Muehlfelder’s gun was stolen.
The rifle was stolen from a police SUV parked at Community First Medical Center, 5645 W. Addison St., where officers were responding to a call. When they returned to the vehicle at about 5:15
A call for Arms
DS Arms replaces rifle stolen from CPD officer – for free
50 CHICAGO LODGE 7 ■ DECEMBER 2015
Officer Jeff Muehlfelder’s rifle was stolen when his CPD patrol car was broken into on Oct. 16.
a.m., they found it broken into and the rifle missing.
Soon after learning of the theft, DS Arms posted on Facebook: “We just wanted to let you know we have your back with DS Arms’ Repair or Replace Lifetime Law Enforcement Warranty included with every department- or officer-purchased rifle from DS Arms Pro
Shop.”
“The rifle we replaced the stolen rifle with is not a standard
issue,” Mallek noted. “It’s a configuration we’ve worked at. It kind of has everything an officer needs – an upgraded quad rail hand- guard, so if they need to put a vertical grip or a light or whatever accessory on it, it’s accessory ready. It has an SOP MOD (Special Operations Peculiar MODification), a butt stock that has battery storage for inlights or any other type of flashlight they will use. Other than that, it’s a core gun we normally build with all M16 qual- ity components.
“Law enforcement officers like it because it can hit targets from up to 200 yards,” Mallek observed.
He presented the new rifle to Muehlfelder Oct. 20.