BLACKS: 2019 - Two Ohio men charged for gun store heist near Toledo, 47 guns, ammo; Oregon to Indiana

Arheel's Uncle

Arheel's Uncle

Senior Reporter
www.guns.com

Two Ohio men charged for gun store heist near Toledo :: Guns.com

Two men from Toledo, Ohio face federal charges for a gun store heist in the nearby town of Oregon caught on surveillance in November.
www.guns.com www.guns.com


Two Ohio men charged for gun store heist near Toledo​


01/18/2019 07:30 AM | by Christen Smith

Share

7BES7UPWAVCJBNINJVRJ7GIJNM.jpg

Emmanuel Riley, 27, and Sevario Whitaker, 36, stole nearly four dozen guns, six suppressors and four gun bags from Towers Armory just in the early morning hours of Nov. 19, 2018. (Photo: WTOL News)

Two men from Toledo, Ohio face federal charges for a gun store heist in the nearby town of Oregon caught on surveillance in November.

Emmanuel Riley, 27, and Sevario Whitaker, 36, stole nearly four dozen guns, six suppressors and four gun bags from Towers Armory just in the early morning hours of Nov. 19, 2018. According to court documents, the men climbed onto the roof and crawled through the store’s ventilation system, leaving behind trace DNA on a red pry bar abandoned at the scene.

Surveillance footage from a nearby business recorded the men — dressed in hats, gloves and Jason Voorhees masks — loading the stolen guns into a Toyota Camry before driving away. Police later towed the vehicle from Riley’s mother’s house and searched inside, finding a sweatshirt and masks matching the clothing seen on video. Cell phone records place Riley and Whitaker within one mile of the gun store during the time of the burglary, according to court documents.

“There is no place in our society for those who use firearms for violent purposes, including those who steal firearms to further their criminal pursuits,” said Trevor Velinor, Special Agent in Charge of ATF’s Columbus Field Division. “ATF will continue to work with our law enforcement partners at the federal, state, and local levels to bring those individuals to justice.”

The case falls under the purview of the Department of Justice’s Project Safe Neighborhoods, a federal program targeting gun-related violence in the nation’s most dangerous cities. First launched in 2001, Project Safe Neighborhoods became the centerpiece of former Attorney General Jeff Sessions’s strategy for reducing crime across the nation — a goal President Donald Trump set for him soon after taking office in 2017.

“Taking what we have learned since the program began in 2001, we have updated it and enhanced it, emphasizing the role of our U.S. Attorneys, the promise of new technologies, and above all, partnership with local communities,” he said. “With these changes, I believe that this program will be more effective than ever and help us fulfill our mission to make America safer.”

The department awarded $98 million in grants to understaffed local law enforcement agencies and “seed money” to support investigations targeting gangs and traffickers. Some 20 U.S. Attorneys Offices also received 40 additional prosecutors tasked with reducing violent crimes in their respective district. The District of Kansas received more than $294,000 in federal funding last year to help increase weapons prosecutions.
 
Last edited:
Arheel's Uncle said:
Two men from Toledo, Ohio
Click to expand...

www.13abc.com

Four Toledo men indicted in firearms crimes

The case is being pursued as part of a gun violence reduction project called "Project Safe Neighborhoods."
www.13abc.com www.13abc.com

Four Toledo men indicted in firearms crimes​


(WTVG)
Published: Feb. 8, 2019 at 8:31 AM MST

Four Toledo men have been indicted on federal firearms charges, two in connection to the November robbery at Towers Armory. An additional two were indicted as felons in possession of firearms. All four arrests were part of a U.S. Attorney's office initiative to cut down on gun violence.
Two of those men, Emanuel Riley, 27, and Sevario Whitaker, 36, were charged with theft back in January, 2019 after police say they broke into the armory on November 19, 2018 and stole 46 firearms, six suppressors (commonly known as silencers), and four gun bags. Video surveillance from the store showed two men breaking in through a ventilation system on the roof, returning several times to remove the weapons.
Additional footage from a nearby business showed the men entering a Toyota Camry and driving away. A Toledo police detective recognized the car, which led them to Riley. The car was towed from Riley's mother's house and searched by Oregon police who found gloves, a hat and masks consistent with those used in the robbery. Whitaker was arrested on a separate warrant and found to be wearing a sweatshirt consistent with one worn during the robbery.
DNA testing revealed that Whitaker's DNA could not be excluded from a red pry bar left at the scene, while DNA from both men could not be excluded from the face mask recovered from the car. Further, cell tower records indicated that both Riley and Whitaker's phones connected with a tower less than a mile from Towers Armory at the time of the burglary.
Two other men, Darius Travell Johnson, 30, and Robert Louis Winston, 58, were charged with being in possession of a firearm despite previous felony convictions. Johnson had previous convictions for felonious assault and robbery, while Winston had previous convictions for aggravated burglary, aggravated robbery, trafficking in heroin and numerous other charges.
According to the U.S. Attorney's office, the cases are being pursued as part of a gun violence reduction project called "Project Safe Neighborhoods."
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top