A former Louisiana police officer has turned himself in after facing arrest on some serious charges, the Baton Rouge Police Department said. The former cop is accused of dumping guns that were part of an investigation into a trash pile.
According to Central Police Chief Roger Corcoran, some children found three guns in a neighborhood. The guns had been thrown in a box in a trash pile on Roble Avenue in Central.
The former officer was identified by Corcoran as Benjamin Zeringue.
“We are lucky this did not end in tragedy and we’re thankful that those kids who found the guns did not shoot themselves or others,” Corcoran said.
The chief says the children brought the guns home to their mother and once they were turned over to Central PD, they found paperwork showing the guns were linked to the Baton Rouge Police Department.
“It turns out the guns were part of an ongoing investigation with BRPD and they were supposed to have been in evidence,” said Chief Corcoran.
The former officer turned himself in around 2:30 p.m. Monday through an agreement with his attorney, a source close to the case tells the 9News Investigator.
That same source said federal marshals would have gotten involved with bringing him in if he did not surrender.
“He was supposed to be surrendering himself to the local police department within s 24-hours timeframe in an agreement through his attorney. If he did not follow through with that, we would move forward with pursuing him,” the source confirmed.
A news conference is scheduled to begin around 3:30 p.m.
