Minatare police officer accused of stealing, pawning guns

A western Nebraska police officer has been arrested and accused of stealing and pawning guns from his department.
The Scottsbluff Star-Herald reports that 32-year-old Bryan Martinez, of Gering, was arrested at his home Tuesday by Nebraska State Patrol investigators. He’s charged in Scotts Bluff County with three counts of theft and one count of passing a bad check.
The patrol says an investigation into Martinez, who works for the Minatare Police Department and the Sioux County Sheriff’s Office, began in January when a local store reported that he had written a bad check. The patrol then learned that several guns were missing from the Minatare Police Department.
Investigators believe that Martinez stole the guns and sold three of them to a local pawn shop.