A former dry-cleaning employee is accused of stealing a police officer’s uniforms.

According to police, the uniforms were returned before the officer who owned them even realized they were gone.

Caller: We just found some uniforms, police uniforms by the dumpster and I have them in my office.           

According to investigators the owner of those uniforms was in fact an Edmond police officer.

911: Were they Edmond ones? Or do you know where they're from?   

Caller: Yes, there are two sets, they're very small but they have Edmond patches on them.

Once traced back to their proper owner, the officer told his supervisor he had recently dropped them off at a cleaners near East 2nd and Vista.

“Through the investigation, working with the owner of the dry cleaner, we were able to identify the individual that stole them,” said Edmond police spokeswoman Emily Ward.             

Confronted by the business, police said employee Brandon Richards allegedly admitted to stealing the uniforms.

“The employer was shocked and cooperative. The individual was fired,” said Ward.

Richards explained why he wanted the uniforms and how they ended up outside an apartment complex. 

“His story was he was selling them to someone who lived in this apartment complex. The person changed their mind, so he just dumped the bag,” said Ward.      

Whatever his intentions, police said they were relieved to have them back.

“There's no telling what someone could do with these uniforms, they could put them on, impersonate an officer. They could go in somewhere and commit a crime,” said Ward.               

Police said they had previously arrested Richards for burglary. After serving one year in prison, he was released in June and was on probation.

The case remains under investigation.