Investigators used security cameras and high tech to track and capture the four suspects in North Las Vegas — all in the same day.
Poway Weapons and Gear is a popular range and gun store. San Diego Police officers practice here. Still, it was not secure enough to prevent this heist in the wee hours of March 25.
According to the unsealed criminal complaint filed by the U.S. Attorney’s office of Nevada, four people dressed in loose-fitting sweat pants and jackets face masks and gloves entered the building.
They used two vehicles, a silver SUV and 2013 Hyundai Elantra reported stolen to break into Poway Weapons and Gear.
Get San Diego local news, weather forecasts, sports and lifestyle stories to your inbox. Sign up for NBC San Diego newsletters.
The Hyundai Elantra was used to ram the front doors and left there. The damage is evident by the plywood now securing the front entrance.
Once inside, the complaint reads: Burglars destroyed display cases and racks to get to the guns.
They put at least 78 rifles and handguns into bags and they were gone in just four minutes.
Local
NBC 7 compared the recovered stolen guns with the list of California-approved firearms for sale to the general public.
A third of those recovered weapons are only available to law enforcement and federally licensed facilities like Poway Weapons and Gear.
In all, at least 78 firearms were stolen and 35 guns were recovered. Forty-three remain missing.
The complaint goes into great detail identifying the suspect’s travel path. San Diego Sheriff’s department accessed automatic license plate reader data to determine the Elantra was stolen from Lake Elsinore.
Detectives say the car was driven southbound on Interstate 15 toward Poway around 2:30 a.m. that day in tandem with a silver SUV like the one caught on gun rage security cameras. It was identified as a 2019 Silver Chevy Equinox.
Detectives say license plate reader data indicates that car alone was driven from the gun range northbound on I-15. It passed into Nevada at Primm and arrived at in North Las Vegas at 7:54 a.m.
Before sun up, Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms agents swarmed a house at Blue Rose Street and East La Madre Way in North Las Vegas. A video recorded by a neighbor shows law enforcement used a remote control robot to lead several agents inside the house.
Without a shot fired, investigators arrested: Ky’von Love Bernard Payne, Semaj’e Ridgeway, Jahova Bell and Lanell Bellows.
Each is charged with several counts of transportation and possession of stolen firearms, and trafficking in firearms.
The mystery that has yet to be solved: Where are the missing firearms?
Officers searched the Chevy Equinox. They found sweatshirts, sweatpants, and gloves consistent with those worn at the gun range burglary. The complaint indicates they also found a price tag for a Poway Weapons and Gear handgun in the vehicle.
