The Atlantic City Police Department says an off-duty officer interrupted two men having an argument last week, which lead to one person being arrested and a gun being recovered.

The ACPD says on December 12th, Ofc. Matthew Talavera, who was off-duty at the time, was walking in the beach block of Roosevelt Place when he encountered two men in an altercation. One of the men approached Talavera and told him that he was waiting for officers to respond and that the other man, 42-year-old John Howard of Absecon, had a gun.

Officer Talavera called police communications and advised them of the incident. Cops say Howard had discarded the gun in a mailbox, which was recovered and Howard was arrested.

Howard was charged with unlawful possession of a weapon, possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose, aggravated assault, possession of a high-capacity magazine, and certain person not to possess a weapon; he was remanded to the Atlantic County Justice Facility.