Half of guns taken in Angleton burglary recovered
By THAYER EVANS
Chronicle correspondent
ANGLETON — Law enforcement authorities are still looking for about half of the 90 weapons stolen from an Angleton gun shop early Wednesday morning after recovering some at a home in an unincorporated area of Brazoria County, Angleton Police Detective Rodney Crisp said late Thursday night.
"We know where some of (the weapons) went," Crisp said. "Whether or not we can get them back is the problem."
Crisp said police were working Thursday night to obtain warrants to get back the unaccounted items.
The weapons, about 80 of which are handguns and rifles, were taken along with other weapons and ammunition from A.A.M.I. Firearms, 2329 E. Texas 35 in Angleton, between 4 a.m. and 5 a.m. Wednesday, Police Chief David Ashburn said. The approximately 45 weapons recovered Thursday were found at a home outside Manvel about 11:30 a.m., Crisp said.
Police declined to give a motive for the burglary, citing their ongoing investigation.
The Angleton police, the Brazoria County Sheriff's Office and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives have been involved with the recovery effort, Ashburn said.
Ashburn said law enforcement authorities were led to the residence with the weapons when two men in a late-model, red Ford Mustang were arrested after a car chase with Angleton police early Thursday morning. That chase, which reached speeds up to 120 mph, ended near Hitchcock after deputies from the Galveston County Sheriff's Office used road spikes to stop the vehicle, he said.
A person driving by A.A.M.I. early Wednesday reported seeing a red Mustang in its parking lot to police after learning of the robbery, Ashburn said.
Both men in the car surrendered peacefully and a gun was found in the vehicle, he said. One of the men, Alexis Aaron Kidder, 19 of Freeport, has cooperated with police and alerted them to the location of the weapons found Thursday, Angleton Police Captain Katherine Davis said. Kidder has been charged with burglary and didn't act alone in the crime, Crisp said.
"I know there was one other person actually involved in the robbery," Crisp said.
Crisp said the other man in the red Mustang has been detained by police and could be charged with tampering with evidence.
http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/metropolitan/3405863
