PRESCOTT VALLEY, Ariz. - The Prescott Valley Police Department is offering an reward for finding the police chief's missing service weapon, the department said Tuesday.
Police Chief Bryan Jarrell apparently lost the gun, a 9mm Glock 19, in the bathroom of the library near Prescott Town Hall, a department spokesman said. The Town of Prescott is offering a $500 cash reward.
Jarrell had apparently been at the library attending the town council meeting on Friday, Nov. 9, and changed his clothes in the bathroom afterward.
It wasn't until he checked his bag on Monday morning that he realized the gun was gone.
A police spokesman said the library does have surveillance cameras, but they're not aimed at the bathrooms, so there's no way to tell who entered the bathroom after Jarrell.
"We had a conversation" Town Manager Larry Tarkowski said of his phone call with Jarrell that week. "An appropriate one," he added.
Tarkowski said Jarrell will get a "counselilng letter" in his file, and be required to pay the city for the value of the gun. Tarkowski, however, said he's considering the missing gun an honest mistake.
"We’re all human beings," Tarkowski said, "and I defy anybody to look in the mirror and say that they’ve never made a mistake.”
The handgun is described as a glock 19, 9mm caliber and black in color with serial number YHC 944. Anyone with information on the whereabouts of this weapon is asked to call Yavapai Silent Witness at 1-800-932-3232.