The city has recovered a $15,000 lead-detector gun that was stolen from a city vehicle, thanks to two eagle-eyed beat cops.
The gun, used by the city health department, was stolen on Monday night of last week out of a city worker’s city-issued Chevy on West Hills’ Farnham Avenue.
Cops put up wanted posters announcing the theft and distributed them to patrol cops, according to police Sgt. David Zannelli, the new supervisor of the robbery/burglary unit.
On Friday night, Officers Patrick Bengston and Michael Valente were walking the 4 p.m. to midnight shift in Westville. As they checked behind 500 Blake St., they found a black case in which the gun had been stored.
The gun wasn’t in the case, Zannelli said. Bengston and Valente looked nearby in the West River and found the gun in the water.
“It was good vigilance from the patrol officers,” Zannelli said.
“The gun did not appear to be tampered with,” he said. “Somebody opened it” and “decided to get rid of it, quick.”
Police aren’t sure whether the gun is functional, given that it was left in the water, Zannelli said. The health department will pick up the gun and make that determination, he said.
