MIDTOWN EAST — A Department of Sanitation worker helped police get a gun off the streets — literally — when he spotted a discarded pistol at the side of a Midtown road, according to a police report.
The worker, 28, from The Bronx, was in the passenger seat of a garbage truck headed east on East 58th St. at about 8:40 a.m. on Feb. 21 when he saw what looked like a handgun poking out of a plastic bag at the intersection of Second Avenue, police said.
Stopping to check it out, the worker found a 9mm Beretta pistol in an orange plastic bag, according to a police report. Using weapons training he'd got during military service, the worker secured the gun and called 911, officials said.
Police canvassing the area for more evidence found a spent shell casing about 10 feet from where the gun was found and, about 20 feet away, they found a magazine fitting the semi automatic pistol, according to a police report.
It was unclear if the gun had been fired near where the sanitation worker found it and police had not yet identified any suspects as of Thursday, according to a report.
