Three of five people suspected of being involved in a pre-dawn burglary at a gun shop in Mercer County were arrested Monday night in Pittsburgh, police said.
The juveniles, whose names were not released, were spotted and stopped by Pittsburgh police at West Warrington Avenue and Saw Mill Run Boulevard on the border of the city’s Mt. Washington and Beltzhoover neighborhoods, but not before they rammed two police cars.
A 19-year-man with them, Mehki Reed of Pittsburgh’s Perry South neighborhood, was arrested in the incident along with the juveniles. He was charged with a misdemeanor count of illegal possession of a firearm and placed in the Allegheny County Jail without any bond set because he was determined to be a threat to the community, according to court documents.
Three juveniles were each charged with illegal possession of a firearm by a minor and receiving stolen property. They were released to Allegheny County Juvenile Probation for placement.
Police said they were able to spot the vehicle, a white Hyundai, using a license plate reader and then monitored the vehicle as it moved through Pittsburgh. They spotted the vehicle at 8:50 p.m. and stopped it at a traffic signal by boxing in the vehicle, according to the criminal complaint against Reed.
Police said the juvenile driver hit a police vehicle stopped behind it and the one stopped in front of it, prompting officers to pull their weapons and point them at the occupants.
Three AR-style rifles were found inside the car — two on front seats and one in the rear, according to the criminal complaint. Police alleged that one juvenile had what appeared to be price tags for the AR-style rifles. Police accuse the suspects of having other people’s identification cards and credit cards.
The guns found in the car are believed to be part of the 21 firearms stolen in Mercer County. The car had been stolen from Mercer. The people were taken into custody to be questioned by agents with the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
Mercer County District Attorney Peter C. Acker told TribLive news partner WTAE that AR-15 rifles and ammunition from the Seconds Count Gun Store were stolen.
A car stolen from Erie was used to crash into the store at about 5:15 a.m., police told The Herald newspaper in Sharon.
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The car was still running when Acker arrived at the store, located on the square across from the courthouse. Surveillance video showed five people were involved and they then stole the car that was found in Pittsburgh.
The theft came after a similar theft Sunday near New Castle. The thefts might be related, Acker told the newspaper.
In a similar case in January, two men are accused of using a pickup to ram a New Kensington gun shop.
Ben Benson, an ATF spokesman in Philadelphia, said the bureau did not have information on the Pittsburgh incident or its relation to the gun dealership burglaries.
The He said that the ATF it is investigating the Mercer robbery along with Pennsylvania State Police and is working with the Shenango Police Department on the New Castle case.
Anyone with information on these burglaries can contact the ATF at 1-888-283-8477; ATFTips@atf.gov; atf.gov/atf-tips; or download the ReportIt app.