Lancaster County detectives are investigating how a Columbia Police Department computer containing crime-scene photographs, reports and other confidential information wound up in Columbia computer shop.

District Attorney Donald R. Totaro on Wednesday accepted possession of the Dell desktop computer from the shop owner.

"The computer was turned over to this office yesterday by the owner of a computer-repair business who received it as a trade-in for a used computer system," Totaro said in a statement Thursday. "I am not at liberty to answer any other questions at this time."

The computer contains thousands of graphic photographs of autopsies, fatal vehicle accidents and bloody crime scenes, the shop owner said.

Jesse Sweigart, employee of The Computer Outlet, 23 N. Fourth St., last month gave a customer $25 credit toward a $150 used computer in exchange for the police computer. The Computer Outlet is owned by Silvia Fontanez.

According to Sweigart the male customer told him the computer contained police photographs and a roster of the department's officers complete with their addresses and unlisted telephone numbers. The man also said he obtained the computer from a Columbia Police officer who rents him an apartment, Sweigart said.

Sweigart said he viewed the photographs to confirm the customer's claims and determined the computer was registered to Columbia Police Chief Joseph Greenya but used by officers.

"I was quite shocked at what I saw," Sweigart said. "It was beyond anything you'll see on CSI. There even appeared to be some autopsy photos."

Sweigart, who publishes the Web site columbiapaonline.com, contacted friend Ron Harper Jr., publisher of 5thestate.com.

Harper said he viewed the images Wednesday at the computer shop and copied them onto a compact disc. He later confronted Greenya at the police station about the discovery.

Harper said Greenya told him the police department replaced their computers about three years ago and that the old computers are stored in the police station.

Greenya did not immediately return a phone message for comment Thursday.

Harper reported the discovery to Totaro. He and Sweigart gave Totaro the computer Wednesday.

Harper also published a report about the computer's discovery, including one of the crime-scene photos on his Web site Wednesday night.

Sweigart said he considered erasing the computer's hard drive to avoid retaliation from police but felt compelled to turn it over to Totaro.

"I had a moral obligation to make it known what happened," Sweigart said. "It's a shame that something so sensitive got into the hands of a civilian. If I was the relative of one of the dead people in the photos, I'd be outraged."

Sweigart found himself in a similar situation last year when a 65-year-old man hired him to install anti-virus software on his computer. The hard drive contained more than 1,000 images of child pornography.

Sweigart reported it to police, and the man pleaded guilty last month to 13 counts of possession of child pornography.