Geology class finds guns at preserve

AUSTIN (KXAN) - An Austin Community College geology class stumbled upon two guns at the Blunn Creek Preserve on Saturday morning. The guns, a shotgun and a handgun, were among a number of stolen items that were taken from a house just down the street from the preserve. Professor Ron Johns was on the trail with 18 of his students, showing them some of the volcanic rocks on the preserve, but what they discovered was much more than rocks.
"We stopped and looked and saw that there were some credit cards," said Johns. "And, as we looked around a little bit more, we saw there was a computer router hanging from the tree. There was a shotgun laying in the bushes."
The group also came across a handgun in a box.
"We made the decision to go ahead and call the police and let them know about it," said Johns. "Especially when we saw the shot gun, because you don't want to leave a firearm in the bushes, where a kid could find it."
When officers arrived at the Blunn Creek Preserve, they matched up some of the items found on the trail to what was missing from a nearby residence. David Easley with the Austin Police Department said he secured the guns and then went to back to recover the rest of the stolen property when he saw a suspicious man.
"There was a gentlemen standing there as if he was looking for something," said Easley. "I just started talking to him and his answers were really vague."
After searching the man, police recovered a box cutter and a stolen cell phone, belonging to the same victims. Easley arrested that man, 17-year-old Eliazar Vega III for theft.
"It's not a crime that's really publicized a whole lot," said Easley. "But it does happen. We deal with thefts and burglaries and it's difficult to catch people that commit those offenses and when you do catch somebody like that it does make you feel good. I was happy to get that guy some of his property back."
Police are still investigating to see if Vega III is connected to any more thefts in the area.