Oct. 29, 2004
WAVY TV
RICHMOND, Va. Federal authorities say a device containing radioactive material was discovered today in a Virginia Beach pawnshop.
It was stolen from a truck almost two weeks while the driver went shopping at a Wal-Mart store.
Mitchell Dunbar, owner of Superior Pawn and Gun Shop, says he never knew what to make of the device, which is about two feet high and looks like a drill press. He says he heard today on the news that the gauge contains radioactive material and had been stolen October 18th.
Dunbar says he called the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, and local police and the F-B-I arrived at his store. He says the company that owns the device, Foundation Engineering Science of Newport News, picked up the device.
Dunbar says the company's owner would NOT reimburse him for the 30 dollars he had paid for the device. The N-R-C says it's worth around nine thousand dollars.
The N-R-C wants to know why the device was not locked up. They say someone who mishandles the gauge could be exposed to radioactive material.
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