Tacoma police have made an arrest in connection with the theft of an Auburn police officer's badge, guns and uniform on Wednesday, KIRO 7's Kevin McCarty reported.

Police said the items were in a bag that was taken from the officer's personal car in Tacoma late Wednesday night. According to court documents, the officer's lost weapons -- a .40 caliber handgun and a loaded AR-15 clip to an AR-15* -- are still missing.

"We take it very seriously any time a weapon is taken from a vehicle, and of course the police equipment; we're going to take that very seriously and do what we can to get that stuff back," Tacoma police Officer Mark Best said.

The documents state that Andrew Steele, 34, broke out the back window of the truck and later showed the stolen items to a friend, who told Steele he should turn them over to police. Steele told the friend he wanted to sell the items. According to investigators, that friend called police and Steele was arrested Thursday night.

"When they went and contacted the guy (it was) just good old-fashioned police work and they got him in custody for it," Best said.

Steele has a lengthy criminal record, including 20 felony convictions for crimes such as identity theft, fraud and bail jumping.

*A deputy prosecutor told Adam Lynn, a reporter for KIRO 7 news partner The News Tribune, that the original declaration of a missing AR-15 in court documents was incorrect.