This Bluffton officer normally helps stop crime. This time he was a victim, police say

Equipment — including a Taser and ammunition — was stolen out of a Bluffton Police Department patrol car as it sat outside an officer’s home last weekend, according to a Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office report.

Some of the items were recovered, but law enforcement is still investigating, Sheriff’s Office spokesman Capt. Bob Bromage said Wednesday afternoon.

The officer secured the equipment in the trunk of his patrol car outside of his home about 12:30 a.m. Saturday, the report said.

He didn’t notice anything missing when he moved the car between his driveway and the street in front of his residence a couple times that day, the report said.

The officer noticed items were gone when he got to work at 6 a.m. Monday, the report said.

He told Sheriff’s Office deputies he doesn’t know how someone gained access to his patrol car, the report said.

The items reported stolen out of the car include:

• Two .40 caliber magazines
• 30 .40 caliber rounds of ammunition
• a body camera
• a X26 Taser
• a hand-held radio
• Two sets of handcuffs
• a patrol vehicle car key
• a K-9 tactical vest

The ammunition, magazines, handcuffs, and the K-9 tactical vest were recovered Monday afternoon during a traffic stop by the Sheriff’s Office, the report said.

A car with two men inside was pulled over at 3 p.m. near the intersection of Okatie Highway and Heritage Parkway, the report said.

The driver was arrested for driving under suspension and when officers were searching his car for it to be towed, they opened the trunk and found some of the stolen items inside, the report said.

The officer was following department policy by storing and securing the equipment in his trunk, Bluffton Police Department spokesman Capt. Joe Babkiewicz said.

This story was originally published October 3, 2018 at 3:24 PM.