(WKBN) — A group of teenagers who were caught on camera trying to break into a West Mifflin Pennsylvania gun store are also suspected of breaking into other gun stores, including two locally.
With a rash of recent gun store burglaries across the region, Jake Kellner says he’s not taking any chances with his business in Columbiana.
“And we’re just going to keep on making sure that we follow all the rules and precautions as best we can,” said Kellner, owner of KRS Guns.
Just in the last month, authorities have investigated four incidents in western Pennsylvania and the Mahoning Valley, including one Sunday morning in Mercer County.
Surveillance video captured five people, believed to be teenagers, dressed in hoodies and masks and trying to break in to Griffin Arms near Stoneboro. But they failed and left in a stolen dark-colored SUV.
At just about the same time, police in Jackson Township stopped a car clocked doing 80 in a 40 mph zone along Route 45 near Mahoning Avenue. There were four teens from the Pittsburgh area inside — one just 14 — and when none could say who owned the vehicle, all were charged with receiving stolen property and taken to the Juvenile Justice Center.
Sources say both vehicles were stolen from the same town early Sunday.
“I’ve gotten notices from the ATF that they’ve had a lot of break-ins over in PA and they’re just trending more this way,” Kellner said.
Late last month, thieves shot their way through the front door of Expert Outfitters in North Lima, grabbing nearly two dozen handguns before leaving in just minutes. Local police now confirm this incident is tied to others recently in the Pittsburgh area.
Security video shows thieves using a hammer to smash the glass of a hobby shop in West Mifflin on Jan. 13, but the suspects quickly realized they were in the wrong place — the armory was next door.
Like the others, police believe these are all juveniles. At this point, no one’s been charged in any of the gun thefts.
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