A Bratislava police officer lost his service-issue automatic rifle after driving off with it lying on the roof of his car, the Sme.sk and Cas.sk websites reported on February 22. The lost weapon, a Vz. 58 assault rifle, was found on Monday evening at a municipal bus stop on Lamačská cesta, Bratislava.
Two constables in the police department of the Bratislava district of Karlova Ves now face disciplinary proceedings. “The officer put down the gun on the roof of a patrol car when loading some things into the car. Then he left, together with his colleague. After the gun had been found, it was returned to police,” Bratislava Regional Police spokesman František Peczár told the Nový Čas daily.
Bratislava police officers have previously left various other things on their car roofs, but this is the first case in which a service rifle was misplaced in this way. Since last November, assault rifles are a normal part of police patrol weaponry after Interior Minister Daniel Lipšic ordered them to be carried following a mass-killing in Devínska Nová Ves last year.
Source: Sme.sk, Cas.sk, Nový Čas
Compiled by Zuzana Vilikovská from press reports
The Slovak Spectator cannot vouch for the accuracy of the information presented in its Flash News postings.
