RANCHO CUCAMONGA >> A Los Angeles Police Department badge and two guns, one of which was reported stolen, have been found in the lake at Red Hill Park, officials said.

San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department has sent the firearms for ballistics testing to see if it matches the shell casing from any unsolved crimes in the city. The guns and badge are among the several items recovered in the lake since crews began the draining process last week.

On Saturday, crews recovered a gun that was reported stolen in 1997 from the Rancho Cucamonga area, said Detective Chris Mulligan with the sheriff’s substation in Rancho Cucamonga.

“The items may have been dumped to hide them, we don’t know,” Mulligan said, adding that crews found the badge and two guns relatively close to each other in the lake.

Department protocol calls for guns to be tested to determine if the weapon is connected to a crime. It is typically done upon request, he said.

“Where these items were found, we decided to look into it a little more to see if these items are related to each other,” Mulligan said.

A request on information regarding the badge has been submitted to LAPD and is still being investigated.

After the guns are checked at the ballistics lab, even if there ends up being a match, it doesn’t automatically solve a case for deputies, he said.

“This might just be the gun that shot that bullet but it’s nearly impossible to put that gun in someone’s hand,” he said.

Mulligan said the ballistics testing is a long process but may help provide officials with more leads to a possible crime.

There were few details about the firearms, but the first gun was fished out of lake early last week, he said.

“The note will go out to the owner to claim the gun,” he said. “We hold (the items) here and the person or the department can come and get it.”

Since last Monday, crews have been draining the lake for the first time in 20 years.

“We passed along to the city that if they find anything to just call us. We can’t be out there all seven to 10 days while they do all this work,” he said.

Robert Bray lives a couple of blocks from the park and has been documenting the process with his video and digital cameras. He uses a step stool to be able to shoot over the green tarp-covered fencing that borders the lake.

Bray said he was not surprised the items were found in the lake.

“It’s not like when they drained Echo (Park) Lake, they found all kinds of stuff,” he said. “I think people are waiting to find out what’s really way down at the bottom, who knows what. After 20 years, I’m not sure something nefarious has happened.”

Bill Wittkopf, public works director for Rancho Cucamonga, said officials have gathered several knives, at least two dozen skateboards, in various conditions; at least three to four dozen cell phones, a bike, several bike parts and “more golf balls than we can count.”

Officials are engaged in a $125,000 process to not only drain the lake but to inspect the aging infrastructure to see if it can be operated cost-effectively. That also involves relocating people’s unwanted turtles and fish believed to have been dumped in the pond through the years.

By Monday, the lake was nearly empty and the draining portion had ceased, despite the fact that a couple feet of water still remained in the lake, Crews will be back today to start pumping out the remaining water and several feet of sludge, consisting mostly of animal waste. Wittkopf said it is a labor-intensive process and the goal is to be completed by Friday.

A total of 121 turtles and nearly 300 fish have been scooped out of the lake. Of those fish, at least 200 were bluegill, another 10 were large bass and several catfish, said DeAna Vitela-Hayashi, director of AquaBio Environmental Technologies.

Vitela-Hayashi was also able to capture about seven baby ducks. They will be rehabilitated until they can be released, Wittkopf said.

Beckie Alvarez, who jogs around the park about three times a week, was startled to hear the news about the firearms and badge on Monday afternoon.

“That’s so crazy. I don’t even know what to say,” Alvarez said upon hearing the news. “It’s scary, I’ve never seen anything dangerous but it’s open and anybody can come at night to dump it.”

Alvarez said it was a bit depressing seeing the lake empty.

“Hopefully it’ll come back soon and it’ll look better, so that people will be happy and everybody wins,” she said. “It’s something to look forward to. If they can make it look better than why not?”