Good Samaritan Hospital employee finds stolen gun behind ceiling panel

Premier Health Good Samaritan Hospital in Dayton. TY GREENLEES / STAFF

Premier Health Good Samaritan Hospital in Dayton. TY GREENLEES / STAFF

A Good Samaritan Hospital maintenance worker discovered a stolen handgun hidden behind ceiling tiles in the emergency room bathroom last month, according to police records.

A Dayton police report did not reveal if police know how the gun — a loaded Smith & Wesson .40 caliber pistol reported to Trotwood police as stolen in March — made it inside the ceiling of the soon-to-be-closed hospital.

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A 37-year-old man told Trotwood police he reached into his car’s center console to get a napkin when he realized the handgun he had stored there was missing.

The man said he believed the gun was taken on March 2 while he was at home on the 4000 block of Nevada Avenue.

According to Dayton police, the gun was found June 29 in the ER bathroom by a Good Samaritan Hospital maintenance worker. When the worker removed one of the ceiling tiles, a magazine to the handgun fell from the ceiling. The employee notified hospital police. A Dayton police officer put on latex gloves to remove the gun from the ceiling.

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Dayton police requested DNA and casing testing on the firearm, according to the report.

Premier Health, which operates Good Samaritan Hospital at 2222 Philadelphia Drive, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The hospital's emergency room is slated to close at noon Thursday, with the rest of the hospital closing Monday at 12:01 a.m.

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