Man finds gun that was stolen 13 years ago

A Phoenixville man was using his metal detector in the woods and found a handgun buried in the dirt.

PHOENIXVILLE » A 25-yearold Phoenixville man told police that he was using his metal detector on Sept. 20 at 7:30 p.m. in the woods behind Reservoir Park and found a handgun buried in the dirt. When police officers ran the gun’s serial number, they learned that the Beretta pistol was reported stolen 13 years ago from a home on Emmett Street.

Phoenixville Police Lieutenant Brian Marshall said that the gun was not used in the commission of a crime. Marshall also said that because the gun was buried in the ground for so many years, the weapon was extremely rusted so police are unable to retrieve fingerprints from the weapon. The Phoenixville Police Department is attempting to notify the gun’s owner, who has moved from the address from where the weapon was stolen.

Police reports from across the region:

West Goshen DUI checkpoint On Friday, Sept. 21, the West Goshen Police Department, in conjunction with the Chester County Impaired Driving Program, conducted a sobriety checkpoint in the 1000 block of West Chester Pike. The checkpoint was held between 10:30 p.m. and 2:30 a.m. during which time 778 vehicles were contacted. Based upon these brief contacts, nine operators were field-tested and three arrests were made. In addition, six were cited for various traffic offenses. All vehicles were towed. Arrested for DUI were Andrew Howe, 19, of West Chester, William Smith, 34, of West Chester, and Lamont Wilson, 37, of Coatesville. Parkesburg Bad checks Parkesburg Police have charged Edmond M. Millon, 50, of Waymart, with bad checks. Millon is accused of passing a bad check at a business located in Highland Township on June 28. Theft by deception Parkesburg Police have charged Kathleen J. Salzman, 48, of Parkesburg, with theft by deception and retail theft after an investigation into incident that occurred at the Family Dollar store on West First Avenue between Aug. 14 and Aug. 15. Truck rodeo On Sept. 22, the Parkesburg Police Department, in partnership with the Chester County Regional SWAT Team, set up a static display of law enforcement equipment and spoke with employees and their families participating in the annual A. Duie Pyle Truck Rodeo, in Parkesburg. This was a first for A. Duie Pyle, in Parkesburg. The event was formally held at their West Chester facility. Officers were invited and on hand as part of the overall truck rodeo and family experience for Pyle’s employees. Police get LiveScan The Parkesburg Police have secured grant funding for the purchase and installation of a “LiveScan” fingerprint processing system, from DataWorks Plus. This new equipment will allow the fingerprinting and processing of arrested persons to be completed at the Parkesburg Police Complex, versus the need to transport individuals to Coatesville, for processing. This new system will save the agency time and keep patrol resources in Parkesburg. West Whiteland Retail theft Mary Leitch, 52, of Honey Brook, was charged with retail theft. The charge was filed after an investigation into an alleged theft of $19 in merchandise from the Plato’s Closet store on Aug. 5. Retail theft Julius Anderson, 38, of Chester Springs, was charged with retail theft on Sept. 15. The charge was filed after officers responded to the Giant store for an alleged $32 theft. Anderson was issued a nontraffic citation and released. DUI Marimuthu Natarajan, 31, of West Chester, was charged with DUI on Sept. 15. The charge was filed after an officer responded to the parking lot of World of Beer for a report of an erratic driver. The officer made contact with Natarajan who was the alleged driver of the vehicle. Natarajan was arrested after failing field sobriety tests. DUI Darshan Hilton, 25, of Modena, was charged with DUI on Sept. 16. The charge was filed after officers responded to Round One for a disturbance. An officer made contact with Hilton who had allegedly been driving around the parking lot during the incident. Hilton was arrested after allegedly failing field sobriety tests. Retail theft Jessica Arnold, 35, of Wilmington, was charged with retail theft and receiving stolen property on Sept. 17. The charge was filed after officers responded to the Kohl’s store for an alleged $130 theft. Arnold was arraigned by Judge Gregory Hines and remanded to Chester County Prison after failing to post 10 percent of her $5,000 bail. It was later determined that Arnold was allegedly responsible for a $210 theft at the Kohl’s store on April 12. Additional charges of retail theft and receiving stolen property were filed against her. Coatesville Harassment On Sept. 24 at 6:52 p.m., police officers were on stationary patrol in the 700 block of East Lincoln Highway, Coatesville. It was at this time that a mutual combat altercation took place between Jonat Sanchez-Hernandez and Joaquin Soto-Quinones. Police action was taken to break up the altercation. Sanchez-Hernandez and Soto-Quinones were both cited with summary harassment.