SANFORD, Fla. — A veteran Sanford police officer is under investigation after his gun, computer and other equipment were stolen from his car.
The investigation into the theft last week centers on whether Sgt. Aaron Johns violated department rules by leaving his .40-caliber handgun in the marked patrol car, Chief Brian Tooley said.
Rules require guns to be properly secured, he said.
Johns discovered the burglary a little before 6 a.m. Tuesday and within minutes the computer was found behind a fence at the Charleston Club Apartments, where the vehicle burglary occurred, said police spokeswoman Cleo Cohen.
An unrelated call hours later to the same apartment complex — one that involved shots fired from the stolen gun — led to the recovery of the weapon and other items taken from the patrol car, as well as an arrest in the case, Cohen said.
A South Florida woman called police about 9:30 p.m. Tuesday to say she had been talking to her brother and heard gunshots.
Officers went to the apartment but got no response. From the rear of the apartment they could see a man inside who turned out the lights, so they returned to the front door, which was unlocked, and entered the apartment, Cohen said.
They found Salvatore Parisi, 28, in a bathroom and took him into custody.
As officers began searching the apartment for a possible victim, they spotted crime-scene tape, tire-deflation devices and other items missing from Johns' patrol car, Cohen said.
Parisi's fianc e and her 4-year-old daughter were in the apartment when the shots were fired, but they fled, Cohen said. They were not hurt. The gun was later found under a couch in the apartment, she said.
Parisi faces charges of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon from the incident inside the apartment, plus additional charges of grand theft, grand theft of a firearm and criminal mischief in the burglary of the patrol car.
He remained in the Seminole County Jail without bail.