When Police Pulled Over A Woman And Her Girlfriend On 21st Ave. N., They Found A Pistol With A Filed Off Serial Number, Allegedly...

Wikipedia image of High Point 9 millimeter, used under First Amendment 
Fair Comment and Criticism, original photo was donated to Wikipedia by
a gun dealer named Laura Floyd, blog post by John Hoff

Click here for the criminal complaint. 

This incident happened in June but I recently found the name of the suspect on the Hennepin County Jail Roster. Few people know that jail roster as well as I do, and unique criminal charges that I've never seen before always get my attention. 

In this case, one Alanis Berry is charged with "removal of a firearm serial number," a felony. 

Who knew? 

Police say...

...a vehicle was stopped on June 6 on 21st Ave. N. driven by a woman named Catra Allen. Also in the vehicle was Alanis J. Berry who was described as the "girlfriend" of Allen.

A gun was found in Berry's purse and the story about whose gun it was didn't really make sense. Allen said it was Berry's gun but she, Allen, had "handled" it the prior weekend. Berry said she had no idea about the gun in her purse, but admitted ownership of the purse. DNA testing indicated most of the DNA on the gun was from Allen, but the DNA testing took until September of 2013 to complete. The serial number on the weapon had been, police say, "obliterated." 

High Point 9 millimeters, by the way, are cheap weapons much maligned by gun enthusiasts. These weapons are the bane of our suffering inner city neighborhood and frequently end up in the hands of thugs. For example, when "Bored Shooter" Malo Gomez decided to fire at police outside a liquor store just to make his own day more interesting, he chose a High Point 9 millimeter for the task. And, of course, nobody ever filed a serial number off a weapon for some legitimate purpose. 

Berry is now charged with a felony. The criminal complaint lists her address as 5627 Xylon Ave. #304 in the 55412 zip code. I have not turned up any previous criminal record in Minnesota for Berry, but her girlfriend Catra Allen has a minor criminal record of theft convictions and marijuana in a motor vehicle. 

Alanis has an extensive Facebook profile and this is an image, below, which fairly represents her appearance.