Driver finds firefighter’s assault rifle on Arizona freeway

Police confirmed that a loaded assault rifle found along a busy Arizona freeway Saturday morning belongs to a Glendale firefighter.

A man reportedly spotted the AR-15 lying in a gutter while he was driving on the Loop 101 east of 75th Avenue.

“I’ve been a firearms instructor for several years now, and when I saw the rifle, I figured, well, this can’t be good,” said the man, who identified himself as John.

John pulled over and picked up the rifle.

“It was completely loaded,” he told 3TV in a telephone interview. “Full magazine and one in the chamber.”

John called the Arizona Department of Public Safety, which contacted the owner.

“Said he was doing something with his rifle this morning, set it on the bed of his truck, and drove off and got sidetracked,” John said. “I can’t imagine what people driving on the 101 thought as the guy was, you know, looking over his rifle on the side of the freeway.”

No criminal charges have been filed.

Sgt. David Vidaure with the Glendale Police Department declined to comment on camera because the firefighter was off duty and it is his personal weapon.

“He was more concerned over the damage done to his rifle,” John said. “I’m just, you know, glad God put me in that spot to pick it up and secure it and get it off the street, so, you know, it didn’t hurt anybody.”