ELM PARK — A squatter was arrested after police found a defaced gun hidden in the basement of the Staten Island house where he was living, prosecutors said.
Anthony Walinski, 25, was arrested Thursday inside the basement of a house on Morningstar Road, according to court records.
Police found a .380-caliber Longines pistol with the serial number removed hidden underneath a boiler in the basement, court papers read.
Walinski told police that "I stay here from time to time" and the owner of the home — who was not named in court papers — said Walinski didn't have permission to live there.
Police, who were at the building because of suspicions that somebody was trespassing, also found a burnt marijuana joint in plain view on Walinski, court papers read.
Walinski was charged with criminal possession of a firearm, criminal trespass and unlawful possession of marijuana at his Friday arraignment, according to the District Attorney's office.
He was being held on $2,500 bail as of Monday, according to court records.
Other notable crimes that occurred in Staten Island include:
► A New Springville man stole a woman's iPhone from her car and was later found by using the "Find my iPhone" app, prosecutors said.
Michael Pisano, 28, was caught by police on Thursday morning on the S44 bus after he snatched the woman's iPhone from her car, according to court papers.
The woman saw Pisano going through her car, which was parked on Renee Place, and he fled on foot with the phone, court papers read.
Police searched the area for Pisano and, after using the "Find my iPhone" app, caught up with him on the S44 bus in New Springville about an hour later, according to court papers.
He was charged with petit larceny and criminal possession of stolen property at his arraignment on Friday and is being held on $2,500 bail, according to court records.
He was also arrested three days earlier after he was caught rummaging through a 2011 Dodge Ram in front of Bridgetown Street and has two other arrests from this year, according to court records.
Pisano avoided jail time in 2007 after he entered into a plea deal for his role in a head-on collision in 2006 that killed a 35-year-old man, the Staten Island Advance reported.
He was sentenced to five years probation after he drove his car "at an excessive rate of speed" and went airborne, crossed a double yellow line and slammed into Andres Renza's Jeep Cherokee, the Advance reported.
Pisano is scheduled to go back in front of a judge for all his arrests from this year, and one from last year, on Dec. 5, according to court records.
► Three people tried to steal 87 pallets of merchandise from the back of the New Dorp Kmart early Friday morning, prosecutors said.
Frailin Francisco, 20, Leandro Tejada, 32, and Jose Vasquez, 47, were arrested at 1:45 a.m. behind the Kmart on 2660 Hylan Blvd., court papers read.
An officer found Tejada and Vasquez carrying seven wooden pallets from the store and putting them in the back of a white 2006 Freightliner Box Truck with New Jersey plates. Francisco was in the back of the truck helping to load pallets and police found another 80 already inside, court papers read.
All three were charged with petit larceny and criminal possession of stolen property at their arraignment on Friday. Tejada was also charged with criminal possession of a weapon after police found him carrying a gravity knife, according to court papers.
They were released without bail and are due back in court on Dec. 15, according to court records.
