Police recover stolen handgun in southeast Fresno toilet

A loaded, stolen handgun was found Wednesday in a toilet in a southeast Fresno home during a search for weapons following a juvenile’s arrest on Jan. 2, police said.

The juvenile was arrested by police during a traffic stop on suspicion of possessing a handgun with a high-capacity magazine, Sgt. Chris Desmond said. Officers obtained a search warrant for several houses in southwest and southeast Fresno after they had learned that the suspect and at least two of his associates had access to several firearms.

Officers found the handgun after serving the warrant at a house on the 600 block of North Fifth Street, just north of Belmont Avenue, Desmond said. The gun had been reported stolen in a recent residential burglary.

No one was arrested because police could not determine who had the weapon before it went into the toilet, Desmond said.

This story was originally published January 7, 2016 at 9:01 PM with the headline "Police recover stolen handgun in southeast Fresno toilet."