(VA) At least 100 guns missing in gun store robbery

[duck hunt]

Tried to post this earlier but couldn't post for some reason:

http://www.wwbt.com/servlet/Satelli...BT_BasicArticle&c=MGArticle&cid=1031780140255

Chesterfield Police are working with State Police and federal Alcohol, Firearm and Tobacco agents on what they’re calling a “priority situation†-- armed robbery suspects on the run with at least 100 stolen guns.

A man wearing a mask walked into a gun shop on Hull Street near Courthouse Road. Police say that just before 8:30 this morning, he presented a gun and ordered the sole employee to the floor.

Police say they found glass cases that were smashed and a large volume of firearms taken from Bob Moates Gun Shop. Even before an inventory could be taken of what was stolen, officers alerted area police departments that witnesses had seen four suspects fleeing the scene with what police say are at least 100 stolen guns.

Captain Paige Foster of Chesterfield Police says that the items include handguns and as many as four AR-15’s, which are similar to M-16’s.

Officers say there is a serious safety issue when it comes to police officers who could inadvertently pull over the suspects and not be aware of the situation. Police also are concerned about where these guns could end up. They may be sold locally, but more than likely, the suspects’ goal would be to pass them out of state.

Police are asking for the public’s help. They are looking for four black males who were wearing dark clothing and gloves. They were last seen driving a gold or tan colored, older model Nissan Sentra.


Local police are working the case with the Virginia State Police and the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

If you have any information, please call Chesterfield Police at 748-1251 or Crime Solvers at 748-0660.

(c) 2005. Jefferson Pilot Communications Company of Virginia. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

 

[jlwatts3]

Pretty good way to start a collection........and end up in prison.

 

[Cacique500]

That's a little unnerving...I was in there last week buying some black powder for a flintlock.

I guess we'll need to keep our eyes peeled for 'deals' at the Showplace this weekend...

 

[TechBrute]

what 100 guns fit in a Nissan Sentra with 4 guys? Are they all Kahrs or something?

 

[Langenator]

You beat me to it TB...100 guns, 4 guys, in a Nissan Sentra...at least for of the guns are AR-15s...I'd assume they'd be smart enough to grab any Kalashniklones they saw as well.

You'd think they'd bring a van or something.

 

[LynnMassGuy]

The sole emplyee? That's pretty stupid if you ask me. My local gun store usually has about 5 guys on the counter and they are all openly carrying. Also, I would keep an eye on the "sole employee's" bank account for a while. But thats just cynical old me. Over 100 guns stolen? Good grief. Did this "sole emplyee" help him load up? Unarmed salesman in a gun store? No silent alarm? Pretty irresponsible FFL if you ask me.

LMG
John

 

[Lennyjoe]

Its takes big kahuna's to rob a gun store anyway.

Darn near every one of them I go into has employees with sidearms on.

 

[Sleeping Dog]

Before 8:30 am? What gun store opens that early? Was there only one employee because the store wasn't open yet? If the store wasn't open, why was the door unlocked? If the store wasn't open, what made the robbers think they could just waltz in?

If the store doesn't open before 8:30, it looks a lot like an inside job.

Bad news, in any case.

Regards.

 

[JohnBT]

Lot's of gun stores open early around here. Maybe not 8, but 9. Actually, Green Top opens at 8 six days and 9 on Sundays IIRC. Good thing they didn't rob one of the big gun stores or the media would really, really, really be involved in a feeding frenzy. John

___________________________________

100 guns taken by 'faceless' robbers
Gunmen covered head-to-toe threatened a gun shop clerk, then took 'top-shelf' weapons
BY MARK BOWES
TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER
Wednesday, January 12, 2005

Four masked men took less than four minutes to steal more than 100 guns from glass cases at Bob Moates Gun Shop at 10418 Hull Street Road yesterday morning.
DON LONG/TIMES-DISPATCH
A brazen early-morning robbery at a Chesterfield County gun store has local, state and federal authorities on the lookout for more than 100 guns and the four masked men who took them.

The lone employee at the center of yesterday's 8:15 a.m. holdup says he feels lucky to be alive. The leader of the four "faceless" robbers repeatedly barked, "Don't move or I'll shoot you!"

The clerk, who didn't want to be identified, said he froze until ordered to lie face down on the floor of Bob Moates Gun Shop at 10418 Hull Street Road.

He hugged the ground until the men made off with dozens of "top shelf" handguns and four AR-15 assault-style rifles in less than four minutes.

The loss was placed at between $25,000 and $30,000.

"In my opinion, they really knew what they were doing," said the clerk, 56, who has worked at the store eight years. "They took the most expensive handguns. They went right to the cream of the crop."

The leader, who hovered over the clerk as the others looted the store, could be heard saying, "Yes -- no -- leave 'em take 'em" to the men grabbing the guns. They smashed three or four glass display cases.

"The whole time he stayed on top of me," the clerk said.

The robbery took a "minimum of two minutes and not more than four," he said. "They were brisk."

Police and store owners yesterday inventoried the stolen items.

The makes, models and serial numbers of the guns will be entered into the National Crime Information Center, a computerized index of criminal-justice information.

The database includes criminal record history information, fugitives, stolen prop- erties and missing persons, and is available to federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies 24 hours a day.

Yesterday's robbery appears to be unique, at least in the Virginia-Maryland-North Carolina region, an ATF official said.

"When we got the call this morning -- I mean talk about a bold robbery, wow!" said John Malone, special agent in charge (SAC) of the ATF's Washington field office.

There have been recent cases in which vehicles have been driven through the front doors or plate glass windows of gun shops, or intruders have punched through the roofs or back doors of stores after hours, Malone said. But the Chesterfield robbery is the first of its type that Malone has encountered recently.

"I've been the SAC in Washington for the last year, and we have the city of Washington and whole state of Virginia," he said. "And there hasn't been anything like [this] in the last year, I guarantee. This was a bold, daytime robbery."

Nothing like it has occurred recently in Maryland or North Carolina, either, Malone said.

"The likelihood of [the guns] going somewhere is probably pretty good," Malone said. "Obviously Richmond is a hotbed for a lot of weapon traffic."

"We're hoping they're hidden somewhere and we can investigate and uncover them. But it's a little hard to say at this point."

Police have little in the way of descriptions of the four robbers. All were apparently covered head-to-toe. A video security system had yet to be activated.

The employee said the lead robber, the first one in the store, was "totally covered."

"There was no skin showing on his hands, ankles, wrists," he said. "He had a mask on, a shield or scarf that contoured his head perfectly -- no eye holes, no breathing holes for the mouth or nose."

The scarf or covering was apparently a knit material, "so he could see through it with enough light," the clerk said.

The man appeared to be wearing something similar to a turkey hunter's mask, although it appeared to be facing backwards, Malone said. The covering was underneath a hooded garment with a "zipper all the way from the waist up to his neck, with the drawstring pulled," the clerk said.

The robber also wore leather or vinyl gloves.

The clerk said he knew something was amiss when a man walked into the store about 15 minutes after it opened at 8 a.m. The stranger looked peculiar. The employee was occupied on the phone, "so I couldn't quite figure out" what was wrong.

"Then I realized the guy had no face."

The gunman immediately barked, "Don't move or I'll shoot you. Don't you move!"

When the clerk tried to hang up the phone, the gunman said, "I told you not to move." The clerk froze behind the counter.

The gunman then walked up to the employee, still pointing his gun, as three other men slipped inside. "I kept my eyes focused on [the leader]. I kept focused on the gun," the clerk said.

Once the other men were inside, the leader ordered the clerk to the floor. "I didn't move quick enough, and he said, 'Get on the floor! I'm not going to tell you again.'"

The clerk lay down with his hands behind his head. "I didn't realize he was telling me to put my face on the floor," the clerk said. "I didn't hear him the first time. I was trying not to do anything wrong."

As he lay motionless, the leader asked if anyone else was inside the store. The clerk said no, but the gunman didn't initially believe him. "He asked me three times, and I said, 'No, I am the only one.' And he said, 'Okay, you better be.'"

After the robbers finished their work they apparently brought bags to carry out the guns -- the gunman told the clerk that he was going to stay behind for a few minutes and not to move.

"I realized that was his way of giving him time to get out the door, to make their getaway," the clerk said.

Police said the men were seen driving away on Hull Street Road, possibly in a gold Nissan Sentra.

The clerk said he tried to make it perfectly clear to the gunman that he would cooperate fully.

"I said none of this is worth anybody's life," the clerk said. "And the [gunman] just said, 'Shut up!'

"That bothered me when he didn't respond to that."


Anyone with information about the robbery can call Chesterfield police at 748-1251 or Crime Solvers at 748-0660. Contact Mark Bowes at (804) 649-6450 or [email protected]

This story can be found at: www.timesdispatch.com/servlet/Satel...TD_BasicArticle&c=MGArticle&cid=1031780149836

 

[ssr]

A local store where I am was also recently robbed of 50+ guns. They were remodeling at the time and the only person present was a temp working for the construction/remodeling company. Tell me that doesn't sound fishy.

 

[The_Antibubba]

Someone call a lawyer

I am certain that the gun manufacturers are to fault for this, by making their guns too portable and easy to steal!

 

[WT]

Looks like a well planned robbery. Maybe an inside job?

Thankfully, no one was hurt.

I'm sure the weapons will be found on the streets up 'nawth' in Philadelphia or NYC.

Or ...... maybe the Virginia People's Liberation Militia is stocking up for The Big One.

 

[JohnBT]

If it was an inside job I would think the thieves would have come in their Civil War re-enactment uniforms or maybe old military gear.

From his ad in the phone book: reloading supplies, military collectibles, black gun powder, re-enactor supplies, Browning authorized repairs

John

 

[AZ Jeff]

The most effective method I ever heard of for robbing a gun store involved an "inside man/woman". This is a true story, and happened to a fairly large retail store in Illinois about 10 years ago.

In this case, the "inside" woman involved was the main employee responsible for logging all inventory as it arrived from distributors. She was ordering MORE inventory than that actually being logged. Furthermore, she was also making sure that invoices from distributors were being paid by HER, so know one else would see the differential between the amount ordered/paid versus the amount logged into the bound books.

The "excess" was then being given to her boyfriend on the outside for "disposition". Naturally, the FFL's bound books did not show the "excess" inventory, as she made sure those items never entered the bound books.

She was ultimately caught when the ATF started doing some traces on some crime guns, and it was discovered that the dealer could not find records in his bound books for guns that distributors showed he had recieved.

Her little scheme went on for several YEARS before she was disovered, and the number of guns she stole via this method was over 100. I don't know if she wound up doing time, but her boyfriend DEFINITELY did.

 

[JohnBT]

The number stolen according to an inventory was 63 handguns and 4 AR-type assault-style rifles (I think that's what the radio announcer called them.) JT