Early one morning last fall, around 1 a.m., a Kia Optima crashed into the main entrance of Chaparral Coin & Gun in Murrieta.
The hooded and masked robbers appeared, jumped over the counter and stuffed backpacks onto their chests before fleeing in a second vehicle, leaving the stolen Kia smashed against the building.
They were in the store for about 90 seconds, long enough to take 43 firearms, said Denise Geurts, who co-owns the store with her son.
Federal authorities say the robbery was the first in a series in which thieves obtained more than 300 weapons, which were then sold on the black market.
Six men have since been charged with conspiracy to steal firearms from the premises of a federal firearms dealer, the U.S. attorney's office in Los Angeles announced Tuesday. The businesses targeted were in Ventura, Orange, Riverside and San Diego counties, with the most recent incident reported Saturday at the Fowler Gun Room in Orange, where 70 firearms were stolen.
Those arrested were Cross Arjay Goree, 18, of Lake Elsinore; Caine Aiden Goree, 22, of Lake Elsinore; Kenneth Gilmore III, 19, of Las Vegas; Brendan Markel Hawkins, 19, of Lake Elsinore; Calvin Logan Gray, 18, of Murrieta; and Kendall Eric Johnson, 23, of Lake Elsinore.
The men are suspected of robbing or attempting to rob nine stores, each time using stolen vehicles to ram store fronts, smashing shop windows and fleeing with firearms in other stolen cars.
Some of the stolen guns were later linked to other crimes that are now under investigation, according to an affidavit from Jannah R. Holden, special agent with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
The first robbery occurred Oct. 9 at Chaparral Coin & Gun, which owner Geurts describes as a “neighborhood store.” A team of four robbers took mostly Glock pistols, Geurts said.
Prosecutors said the crew's modus operandi was to search neighborhoods for vehicles like the Kia to steal and temporarily use as battering rams.
It was months before another robbery occurred, on March 25 at Poway Weapons & Gear in San Diego County. In that case, Holden wrote, thieves crashed a stolen Hyundai Elantra into the front door and stole 78 firearms.
Then, on June 12, there was an attempted robbery at Ammo Bros. in Ontario, according to the affidavit. The next day, robbers tried unsuccessfully to break into Fallbrook Guns and Ammo.
On June 17, thieves stole 33 firearms from Firearms Unknown in Oceanside, then a day later, 25 firearms from Ammo Bros. in Riverside.
This month, thieves hit three gun stores, first the Camarillo Gun Store on July 1, where they stole 63 firearms, then an attempted robbery at the Smokin Barrel Gun Store in Simi Valley on July 9 and finally the Fowler Gun Room on July 13.
The owner of Fowler Gun Room told local media that the robbers were equipped with headlamps and sledgehammers. When reached by phone on Tuesday, the owner declined to speak, saying it was “a little too soon.”
Four of the suspects, Cross Goree, Caine Goree, Johnson and Gilmore, were arrested July 13 when police searched a residence in Lake Elsinore.
During the search, officers allegedly found one firearm that had been stolen from Poway Weapons & Gear, another from Chaparral Coin & Gun, two from Camarillo Gun Store and at least .45 from Fowler Gun Room, according to the U.S. attorney's office.
If convicted, each could face up to 10 years in prison. It was not immediately clear from court records whether they have retained attorneys.
Chaparral Gun & Coin estimated its inventory loss at $25,000 and damage and property repairs at $10,000.
Geurts, 59, said most of the stolen guns were new and his store does not have insurance for its inventory because of how expensive it is. He said friends helped them repair damage to the building.
There are now bollards in front of the store to block any future attack attempts, and the store locks up its guns every night and is considering hiring a security guard, Geurts said.
Geurts said her husband, who started the business, died of COVID and the robbery only added to their hardship.
“We’ve been through a lot over the last few years,” he said. “This robbery was just the icing on the cake, so to speak… It will take us years to recover from that loss.”
She blamed criminals like those who robbed her store for giving gun owners a bad reputation.
“They are the ones causing the crimes,” he added, referring to the men who were arrested, “not the normal people who come and buy their guns legally.”
