Recognized the gun when the Times-Union published a police evidence photo of the weapon in a story about the gas station robbery. It was unique becaus

five-shot revolver was meant to give an elderly Jacksonville woman peace of mind as she slept with it under her pillow,But more than a decade after her daughter bought it from a stranger in a parking lot, the weapon might have been one of two guns that police said four teens used to rob a Hendricks Avenue Gate station.One of the teenagers died in a police shooting as they fled the scene of that Feb. 21 crime.Now authorities are focusing part of their probe on whether someone stole that .38-caliber revolver during an attack on another senior citizen last November, Assistant State Attorney Bernie de la Rionda confirmed Tuesday.The 69-year-old victim of that attack in a park on Spring Park Road is the longtime boyfriend of the woman who bought the revolver for her mother. Both the victim and his 66-year-old girlfriend said in Times-Union interviews that he temporarily was keeping the Smith & Wesson in his truck because her grandchildren were visiting for Thanksgiving.The robbery happened after the man warned a group of teenagers who were playing basketball not to park their cars on the grass, according to a Jacksonville Sheriff's Office report.
The man said he lost consciousness after a knock to his head. When he woke up, his 2002 Chevrolet Silverado was gone along with the wallet, cell phone and gun he had in it.The Times-Union isn't identifying the victim or his girlfriend because police haven't made arrests in the November 2007 robbery case.Both said they recognized the gun when the Times-Union published a police evidence photo of the weapon in a story about the gas station robbery. It was unique because of repairs to the filed-down hammer, they said.The man said police told him when he went downtown to speak to a detective last week that someone reported the gun stolen about 20 years ago.That may be, his girlfriend told the Times-Union.At the time she bought it, she didn't know anything about the seller except that he identified himself as a gun collector who needed some fast cash. After answering his Times-Union classified ad, she met him in a grocery store parking lot and gave him $150 for the weapon.Then for years, it sat under a pillow on her mother's king-size bed.