Man on Bicycle Steals John Wayne's Gun

The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance poster
By AARON MESH

Well, pilgrim, Portland has finally gotten as weird as possible.

Police say a man walked into Belmont video-rental store Movie Madness this afternoon around 1:15 pm and stole two guns from classic films: John Wayne's Winchester rifle from The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance and William Holden's shotgun from The Wild Bunch.

The accused thief then rode away on a mountain bike.

"That just doesn't seem right, does it?" says Portland Police spokesman Sgt. Pete Simpson, when asked if somebody had really stolen John Wayne's gun.

Movie Madness keeps a wide range of cinema memorabilia on display. Simpson says the Wild Bunch shotgun was a prop. But Wayne's rifle—donated to Movie Madness in 2000 by a propmaster on the John Ford film—is real.

"That gun is a working gun," Simpson says.

Here's the suspect:

And here's the Winchester:

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