A Grants Pass Department of Public Safety volunteer was arrested this week after police say he stole dozens of guns from the Grants Pass agency's evidence storage facility.

An audit in February discovered 29 firearms missing from the police department and Oregon State Police were notified soon after to conduct an investigation, according to a probable cause affidavit.

The investigation led state troopers to Lee Darrow, 73, a retired Grants Pass fire employee who had been volunteering part time in the evidence storage facility specifically helping with handling firearms, state police said. He was arrested at his home on Tuesday.

State police found 13 of the missing firearms at Darrow's home, the affidavit said. Other guns were traced to several locations in southern Oregon. The recovered items included a Colt, Ruger and Beretta pistols, as well as rifles.

The firearms were taken between 2011 and 2014, the affidavit said.

Darrow acknowledged taking the firearms, according to the affidavit, though it is unclear why or what he planned to do with them.

Darrow was booked into the Josephine County Jail on more than two dozen counts of first-degree theft.

-- Everton Bailey Jr.

ebailey@oregonian.com

503-221-8343; @EvertonBailey