Florida man accused of stealing gun from vehicle

Police arrested a Florida man late Thursday on suspicion of stealing a pistol and a cellphone from a vehicle in the 500 block of Cherry Street.

A man identified by the initials W.F. called police and reported a Sig P238 pistol and a cellphone were stolen from his vehicle at about 9 p.m., Columbia Police Department officer Trey Goodspeed wrote in a probable cause statement. Police were sent to the 600 block of East Broadway a short time later on reports of a suspicious person looking in vehicles and pulling door handles, the statement said.

Officers found a man later identified as Trevor Townsend, 29, of Winter Park, Florida, who had two backpacks, the statement said. Police said they searched his backpacks and found a pistol with a serial number that matched the stolen gun. Townsend is also a felon barred from possessing a firearm, the statement says.

Townsend was in the Boone County Jail late Friday on a combined $10,000 bond on suspicion of unlawful possession of a firearm and stealing a firearm.