GUNNING FOR TROUBLE
DELCO WOMAN FACES CHARGES OF BUYING GUNS FOR BOYFRIEND
MEDIA >> When a detective caught her lying about how she always carried her Glock 26 with the safety on, a former Aston woman allegedly admitted she illegally purchased that handgun, as well as a .380 Smith & Wesson Walther PK38, for her boyfriend, according to charging documents.
Erika Kulp, 23, of Aldan and previously of Hidden Valley Road in Aston, was arrested on Sept. 26. She waived a preliminary hearing on Oct. 6 on felony charges involving firearm ownership and delivery, false statements, tampering with public records and conspiracy, online court records show. She’s free on 10 percent of $50,000 bail and formal arraignment is listed for Nov. 2.
In announcing the case Wednesday, Delaware County District Attorney Jack Whelan said Kulp’s arrest capped a joint investigation by the Delaware County Criminal Investigation Division and the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
“We know that the vast majority of the illegal guns on the streets used for violence and crime are a result of straw purchase,” Whelan stated in a prepared release. “In the case of Erika Kulp, she falsified information for her boyfriend and illegally purchased two potentially dangerous weapons, including one that ended in a drugrelated crime.”
It was by chance that the alleged straw purchases were even revealed, according to a four-page affidavit of probable cause, written by CID Detective David Tyler.
Back on July 8, Chester Police Officer Matt Goldschmidt was checking an abandoned property in the 1000 block of Thomas Street in Chester as part of a drug investigation follow-up when he saw a white T-shirt inside a purse. Wrapped in the Tshirt was a 9mm Glock 26 handgun with a fully loaded 50-round drum magazine.
Tyler began an investigation involving the recovered firearm. Through contact with ATF Special Agent Mark Monaghan, Tyler was told the recovered handgun was found to be registered to the Aston woman. Interested in knowing if Kulp had any prior police contact, Tyler then contacted Aston Police Detective Joseph Nardone. Nardone provided a police report involving a domestic disturbance between Kulp and her boyfriend on April 12. As a result of that investigation, Aston seized a 9 mm Glock 26 and a .380-caliber Smith & Wesson Walther, along with several magazines. All items were returned to Kulp on April 22.
Tyler also ran Kulp and her boyfriend – whose name is being withheld by the Daily Times because he has not been charged – through the National Crime Information Center and determined that neither of them had a license to carry.
When Tyler and Monaghan arrived at the Aston residence to speak with Kulp on Aug. 16, they were met by her boyfriend’s father. The nowestranged couple and their child had been residing with his parents.
After indicating that Kulp was at work at CrozerChester Medical Center, the boyfriend’s father asked the investigators if their visit “was about the stolen gun.” The boyfriend’s father said that a few months prior, his son had taken a gun to Chester, where he was collecting debts, and was beaten up. The gun was stolen during the attack, he said.
The next day, Aug. 17, Tyler and Monaghan returned to the Aston residence and spoke to Kulp about the recovered Glock. She was told at that time she was not under arrest.
According to the affidavit, Kulp initially said that sometime in June, she locked the Glock in a box under the driver’s seat of her red Nissan when she and her boyfriend went to a deli in Sharon Hill. When asked if the gun was stolen while they were in the store, Kulp answered, “No.”
When the investigators asked her when the gun was stolen, she couldn’t answer, but said that her boyfriend reported the gun stolen to the Sharon Hill Police Department a few days later. It was then that Tyler casually asked Kulp if she carried her Glock with the safety on.
“Kulp stated that she always carried the gun with the safety on, and demonstrated with her thumb, as pushing the safety device in an upward position,” the affidavit states.
Tyler showed Kulp a photograph of the recovered Glock.
“Yes, that’s the gun I would carry with the safety on,” she told Tyler, according to the affidavit.
Since the Glock in question does not have a manual external safety, Kulp would never have been able to put the gun on and off safety, Tyler pointed out to her.
Tyler again questioned Kulp about the gun being stolen.
At this point, according to the affidavit, “she stated that she was not being truthful and wanted to give a truthful statement.”
Kulp then said she purchased two firearms for her boyfriend because she knew he was unable to do so, the affidavit states. She said he’d told her that he had been involuntarily committed for mental issues.
In addition, Kulp admitted to lying on the Pennsylvania State Police Application/Record of Sale forms for both guns.
According to the affidavit, the Glock was purchased on Dec. 12, 2015 at Double Action Firearms in Yeadon. Kulp said her boyfriend accompanied her to the store and picked out the 9mm Glock 26 for her to buy. He gave her the money but she couldn’t remember how much, the affidavit states.
Kulp said she purchased the Walther firearm about six months prior. She said that was purchased from a private individual and the transfer was conducted at Targetmaster Gun Shop in Concord. She said her boyfriend accompanied her to that store as well, and paid $300 for the firearm. That transaction occurred on Nov. 11, according to the affidavit.
Kulp said her boyfriend later sold the Walther. When she found out investigators were looking for her on Aug. 16, she told her boyfriend to get that gun back before the officers returned. Her boyfriend got the gun back within 24 hours, the affidavit states.
When Monaghan told Kulp during their return visit on Aug. 17 that the ATF would be taking possession of the Walther, Kulp said she had no problems with it because she “does not like guns anyway,” the affidavit states.
According to the affidavit, Kulp said her boyfriend came up with the idea about filing the false stolen-gun report in Sharon Hill, should she ever be questioned about the purchases.
Sharon Hill Police Detective Vincent Port told investigators he was contacted on June 20 by a man claiming his Glock was stolen out of Kulp’s vehicle, but the reporting man could not provide any gun information and also stated the gun is registered to his girlfriend, whom he identified as Kulp. He was told by the officer that Kulp would have to file the report.
As part of the investigation and through a search warrant served on the Crozer-Chester Medical Center Health Information Management Department for medical records on Kulp’s boyfriend, Tyler verified that on June 26 Kulp’s boyfriend was a patient under involuntary commitment at the facility.
Two weeks before Kulp surrendered on the charges, she resigned from her position at Crozer, authorities said. She identified herself to investigators as a nursing assistant. If convicted, Kulp faces a five-year minimum mandatory prison sentence under the Brad Fox Law, according to the District Attorney’s office.
Kulp’s defense attorney, Scott Galloway, could not be reached for comment.