A Boulder police officer was arrested last week by federal authorities, accused of stealing and selling Army-issued assault rifle silencers while serving as a staff sergeant with the National Guard in Fort Lupton.

Eric Shunglik Lee, 33, was apprehended on Oct. 25 along with another Colorado Army National Guard member, Spc. Matthew Colin Laflin, following a month-long undercover investigation by federal agents.

Boulder police Chief Mark Beckner said this morning that Lee, a patrol officer, has been put on leave without pay pending an internal investigation.

According to a criminal complaint filed with the United States District Court in Denver, Lee stole two .223-caliber silencers from the Army and gave them to Laflin. Laflin then sold the silencers, designed to fit an M-4/AR-15-style assault rifle, to a confidential informant working with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

For more on this story go to www.dailycamera.com