51 weapons seized from cop's home

ANTHONY MAGSAM had a decision to make.

He opened his front door early yesterday in Northeast Philly and found a group of SWAT cops standing there, search warrant in hand.

He decided to cooperate.

Magsam, a veteran police officer who's at the center of an ongoing investigation into the Police Department's Firearms Identification Unit, or FIU, let the cops inside and went quietly to Internal Affairs for questioning, said Police Commissioner Charles Ramsey.

The SWAT officers removed 51 firearms from Magsam's house, on Tyson Avenue near Loretto Avenue.

Several other weapons were also removed "from another location," Ramsey said.

A police source said the second batch of confiscated weapons included several guns that were found to be missing from the FIU in August, when the U.S. Department of Justice performed an audit on the unit.

Ramsey, however, said investigators did not yet have "anything conclusive" to prove the missing weapons had been found among Magsam's gun collection.

All of the firearms that were confiscated by the SWAT cops will be examined by either the FBI or the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, Ramsey said.

Magsam was not charged yesterday with any crimes. Whether that will remain to be the case is unclear.

The Daily News first reported last month that Magsam - whose mother, longtime police Sgt. Barbara Feeney, is married to retired Chief Inspector Michael Feeney - had allegedly stolen parts from two automatic weapons when he worked in the FIU in 2009, according to numerous police sources.

The parts were later returned, and Magsam confessed to having removed them, the sources said.

But the alleged theft was never reported, and Magsam was transferred to another post - in spite of protests from several of his colleagues.

Internal Affairs began investigating in 2010. Nothing happened until last month, when the People's Paper began inquiring about the case.

Ramsey reassigned Magsam and Lt. Vincent Testa, the former FIU commander whom sources said allegedly helped orchestrate a cover-up.

Testa was not questioned yesterday.

Ramsey also replaced the lead Internal Affairs investigator, noting the investigation had lagged, and asked the Department of Justice to audit the unit.

The audit found that as many as 45 guns were missing. That number has since been whittled down to eight guns, including a Tec-9 semiautomatic, police officials said.

Earlier this week, Ramsey said he asked the FBI to consider whether a federal criminal investigation needed to be launched into Magsam's alleged actions.

"They're still reviewing that. I haven't gotten a definitive answer," Ramsey said.

In the meantime, the Internal Affairs investigation is still continuing, he said.