Elk Grove Gun Store Break-Ins Caught On Camera
ELK GROVE (CBS 13) – Two Elk Grove gun stores burglarized within minutes of each other. Security cameras at Laguna Guns and Accessories caught everything as the thieves break broke in.
"Guns!" said store owner Andrew Tonis. "They were after guns! That's all there is to it."
The good news: no guns were taken from either shop. Surveillance video showed three suspects ramming open the front door with an SUV and within moments, they ran through the broken glass.
"This right door was completely on the ground," Tonis said. "That left door was bent in and the glass was all laying forward."
It happened just before 6 early Sunday morning. Tonis was at home when he got the call from the alarm company.
"They're running through the shop trying to figure out where the guns are at and they can't find them," he said. "They couldn't get it open. So they tried kicking it, couldn't get it open."
The video shows the three suspects trying to break down every door from the office to the bathroom. At one point, they even used a hammer.
"He tried to jump the counter. When he jumped the counter he put his knee on the glass and went right through the glass."
Altogether, three suspects spend less than two minutes in the shop. Video shows the suspect leave empty handed but they weren't done. Twenty minutes later, they made their way to MTG firearms, another shop about two miles down the road.
Detective Casey Robinson said a gun store burglary isn't typical for the area and unsettling for police.
"When they are hit, it's alarming because we don't want guns to get into the hands of the wrong people," Robinson said. "It's good to know that the suspects in this case weren't able to get away with any firearms."
Tonis believes his saving grace was keeping the glass cases in the store empty and his guns- locked up behind dead bolted doors.
"That's the way the DOJ and ATF want you to lock up your guns," he said.
Tonis simply hopes the video can lead police straight to the suspects and wants gun shop owners to take note on how to store their merchandise, securely.
As far as the shop, Tonis is prepared to open up on Monday morning. But replacing the front door is likely going to cost about $5,000.
