BRACEVILLE, Ohio (WKBN) – The owner of a local sporting goods store says he has faith the people who stole more than 30 firearms from his shop will be caught.
“I wouldn’t want to be these criminals right now,” said Todd Garland, owner of Rattlesnake Hill Sporting Goods.
The break-in happened early Monday morning at the store located at the corner of state routes 534 and 82 in Braceville.
“We’re gonna persevere,” Garland said.
Garland is also Braceville’s fire chief and a township trustee.
“We do everything we can here to try and secure this place. We have bars on every window and bars on the doors and everything else. Unfortunately, if they want in, they find ways to get in,” he said.
Garland says in total, 34 guns were stolen from the store — 26 handguns and eight long guns.
“It’s devastating to a small business to get that kind of loss. It’s probably gonna be better than $14,000. I’ve been here for 27 years and $14,000 is a lot of money to us anymore,” he said.
“Criminals committed a crime here. I mean, they broke in, intentionally stole these guns,” said Trumbull County Sheriff Paul Monroe.
Investigators with the Trumbull County Sheriff’s Office and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives are working on the case.
Sheriff Monroe says the goal is to find the weapons before they’re sold illegally on the streets.
“If you hear something on the street or you know of someone selling a brand new gun and it’s a deal that’s too good to be true [and] the serial numbers are ground off of the firearms, they are probably stolen. Please contact us immediately,” Sheriff Monroe said.
“They will get caught, that’s all there is to it. I have faith in all of our law enforcement,” Garland said.
As of Monday night, officials said 12 guns have been recovered and two people have been arrested.
