Prichard Police Officer Stole Gun From Crash Scene While on Duty

By Dale Hines
March 19, 2026

PRICHARD, Ala. A Prichard police officer, arrested on February 12, 2026, on a grand jury indictment is now facing federal charges in the theft of firearms stolen by the officer.

According to court documents, investigators searched the home of Officer Ryan Phillips on Wesley Avenue after he shot and killed his roommate, San Juanita Coronado, in February.

Investigators discovered that Phillips planned to move out of the home the day of the shooting and had scheduled a U-Haul. Phillips claimed Coronado was upset he was moving out and insisted he leave all the guns.

According to the federal document, Coronado then barricaded herself and threatened to shoot Phillips and that is when Phillips fired. The affidavit says a gun was found under Coronado’s body.

Coronado reached out to a Mobile police officer a month before she was killed, asking the officer “if someone puts you in a chokehold and busts your forehead, who goes to jail?” The court documents said the MPD officer responded that she would be the one to go to jail because she had taken Phillips’ cellular telephone. The records also show Coronado sent the officer a picture of a laceration on her forehead.

At this time, Phillips has not ben charged in the shooting death of his roommate however, the investigation led to state charges against Phillips involving three stolen guns.

ATF agents and local law enforcement said that they found 14 guns at the home including four guns that had been reported stolen by their owners.

Federal authorities have put a hold on Phillips who remains in Mobile Jail while they continue to investigate.
Agents said that a stolen Taurus firearm found amongst the guns at the Wesley Avenue home had been photographed by Phillips while on duty at the scene of a car crash on Frontage Road in January.

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