Two men charged with stealing 56 guns across SE Michigan
SOUTHFIELD, Mich. (FOX 2) - Two men have been charged with federal crimes after authorities said they committed nine break-ins and stole 56 guns at stores in Macomb, Livingston, Lenawee, and Ingham counties.
Brandon McClure, 18, and Daniel Rae, 19, were both charged with stealing guns from four different stores since the beginning of September.
The first attempted crime was on September 3, at Not Just Guns in Mason, Michigan. Federal officials said three people broke in and stole one gun and the crime was recorded on surveillance cameras.
Federal officials said two of the suspects came back on October 3 and November 5 to the store but both nights their attempted break-in was not successful. However, on November 20, three people again tried to break in, this time officials said they used a shotgun to fire two shots into the store to try to get in.
This also failed and it was recorded on video. All three men were wearing dark clothes with hoods up and pulled tight around their faces.
After the fourth attempted break-in, the Ingham County Sheriff contacted the ATF and said they believed they had surveillance video of the suspects from two days earlier. That video showed three people arriving on November 18 in a Dodge Avenger with a specialized license plate.
The video shows three people entering the store, talking to an employee for about 10 minutes, and looking at items.
According to the ATF, Patriots Ammo and Arms in Shelby Twp was burglarized on December 1, around 4:30 a.m. A total of 12 guns were stolen.
Ten days later, Titus Kustoms in Fowlerville was also burglarized by three people and 17 guns were stolen. Video from that burglary showed three people, all of whom matched suspects in the video from Not Just Guns. One of the men, later identified as Rae, was wearing an Ohio State shirt.
At Titus Kustoms, officials found a pair of blue latex gloves left at the scene. The gloves were lying on top of snow outside the store.
On December 13, the ATF learned a blue Dodge Avenger with a specialized license plate was stopped by Michigan State Police in September. The driver of the car was Rae but it was not registered to him.
Also on December 13, the ATF reviewed video from a pawn shop in Jackson which showed Rae shopping and driving a blue Dodge Avenger.
The next day, Semper Fi Guns and Ammo in Addison was burglarized by three men. Roughly 26 guns were stolen that night.
On December 15, three people tried to break-in to Johnson's Sporting Goods in Adrian but failed to get through the door.
On December 18, three people also tried to break-in to Men of Arms in Charlotte. Police were called and chased the three people. McClure and a teen were both caught and arrested. Police also reported finding a pair of blue latex gloves at the scene.
Prior to that, between December 13 and 18, police had been following Rae and McClure and saw both men at two different addresses hin Jackson. Rae was also spotted at a home in Leslie, Michigan.
When the ATF agents investigating the break-ins met Rae, they said he matched the man in the video and he was wearing the same Ohio State shirt from the Not Just Guns break-in.
After McClure's arrest, police searched those three addresses and found 19 stolen guns, price tags from the stolen guns, the identification card for the juvenile arrested with McClure, mail addressed to Rae, and more evidence connecting the men to the crimes.
McClure and Rae have both been charged with conspiring to steal guns from a federal firearms licensee and both are being held in federal custody.
James Deir, special agent in charge with ATF, says that the people who purchased those guns need to surrender them now or face prison time as well. Anyone with any information on those stolen guns is asked to contact the ATF at 1-800-atf-guns.