Three face charges in gun thefts
By Gary Popp
Published in News on May 31, 2012 1:46 PM
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Three men have been arrested in connection with the theft of more than $72,000 worth of guns from WT's Gun Shop in May.
Quandre Roshawn Weeks, 20, of 804 N. Pineview Ave., is charged with breaking and entering, larceny after breaking and entering, possession of stolen goods, four counts possession of a weapon of mass destruction, four counts transport a weapon of mass destruction and two counts sell and deliver a weapon of mass destruction. He is being held on a $300,000 secured bond.
Benjamin James Carraway, 24, who has an unknown Wayne County address, is charged with breaking and entering, larceny after breaking and entering, possession of stolen goods, four counts possession of a weapon of mass destruction, and four counts transport a weapon of mass destruction. He is being held under a $225,000 bond.
While officials say he was not believed to have been present at the break-in, Kevin Dejuan Walters, 23, of 705 E. Holly St., was arrested for his alleged possession of stolen goods in connection with the burglary.
He is charged with possession of a stolen firearm, two counts possession of a weapon of mass destruction, sell and deliver a weapon of mass destruction and transport a weapon of mass destruction.
Walters also had an outstanding warrant for his arrest when he was taken into custody. He is being held under a $105,500 secured bond.
A dozen firearms were stolen from the Centura Drive business May 14. Among those were two fully automated .45-caliber machine guns outfitted with silencers, which resulted in the possession of weapons of mass destruction charges.
The other stolen property included three 9 mm handguns and seven .45-caliber handguns.
The capture of the suspects resulted from a collaborative effort of multiple law enforcement agencies and input from area citizens, Wayne County Sheriff's Maj. Tom Effler said.
During the investigation, lawmen seized both of the automatic machine guns, which Effler said are believed to be fully operational, and one of the handguns, which have a total reported value of $61,400.
Two days after the break-in, investigators with the Sheriff's Office received information that the firearms were stored at a Goldsboro home.
With the assistance of the Goldsboro Police Department, deputies searched the address and recovered three firearms, but none that were stolen from WT's Gun Shop.
Effler said it appeared some of the suspects were in the home earlier in the day.
A week after the break-in, Mount Olive Police Chief Brian Rhodes notified sheriff's investigators that some of his officers recovered one of the reported stolen handguns in Mount Olive.
The investigation, which included assistance from Mount Olive police, returned to Goldsboro where the first automatic weapon was recovered.
During that seizure, investigators obtained information that led to the arrests of Walters and Weeks.
Further investigation resulted in the recovery of the second automatic machine gun at a Goldsboro location.
Effler said the men were located and taken into custody near different Goldsboro convenience stores.
Carraway was found walking on foot near Oak and James streets and arrested May 29.
Effler said both lawmen and citizens were especially motivated to work this investigation because of the severity of having two automatic machine guns on the streets.
"One of the biggest concerns is that fully automatic firearms were out there," he said. "We didn't want this resulting in a shootout involving (lawmen) or anyone else. That really spurred help from the public. The citizens contacted us a lot."
Effler said the investigation is ongoing and additional arrests are possible.