ATF Blames Six-Person Crew for Rash of Gun Store Burglaries in 3 Orange County Cities

Burglaries of a couple gun stores in Fountain Valley had police calling in the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms for assistance, but now comes word the net widened due to similar thefts in Placentia and Yorba Linda–as well as the posting of a $10,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of six suspects linked to the heists.

]

The first burglary of firearms happened about 5 a.m. on Aug. 29 at Orange County Firearms in Fountain Valley, according to ATF Special Agent Meredith Davis. That's the store whose surveillance video provided the images the agency made public.

On Sept. 2 between 3:30 and 5:30 a.m., the same six thieves stole weapons from FMK Firearms in Placentia, Sure Fire Institute in Yorba Linda and Rifle Gear Firearms in Fountain Valley, Davis said.

Here are the descriptions investigators provided:

Suspect 1 – Adult male, last seen wearing a light-colored hooded sweatshirt, dark pants and dark shoes. Suspect 1 had dark facial hair at the time of the burglaries.

Suspect 2 – Adult male, last seen wearing a light-colored hooded sweatshirt, sweatpants and shoes. Suspect 2 had dark facial hair at the time of the burglaries.

Suspect 3 – Adult female, dark hair, last seen wearing a light-colored hooded sweatshirt.

Suspect 4 – Unidentified adult suspect, last seen wearing a black and white patterned hooded sweatshirt.

Suspect 5 – Unidentified adult suspect, last seen wearing a red with blue and white patterned hooded sweatshirt, white t-shirt, colored, possibly patterned, pants and black and white tennis shoes.

Suspect 6 – Unidentified adult suspect, last seen wearing a dark-colored hooded sweatshirt, dark pants and shoes.

Anyone who recognizes a person or people in the photos–even if only by nickname, address, school or workplace–is asked to immediately call the ATF tip line at (800) ATF-GUNS.

No descriptions of the types or volume of firearms taken were revealed.

Of course, if all those gun stores were armed, this never would have … wait!

Email: mc****@oc******.com. Twitter: @MatthewTCoker. Follow OC Weekly on Twitter @ocweekly or on Facebook!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *