Multiple juveniles aged 14 to 17 have been arrested in the October 8 burglary of SNG Tactical at 3441 S. Palo Verde Road in Tucson, in which several firearms were stolen, the Pima County Sheriff's Department said in a release summarised by the Tucson Daily Brief on October 21. KGUN 9 reported that five boys aged 14 to 17 were arrested by Pima County deputies. The juveniles are not named in any of the reporting because of their ages.
Several stolen guns have been recovered, and agents of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) and the Tucson Police Department are working with the sheriff's department on the case, which remains open, the release said. Sheriff Chris Nanos told KOLD News 13 that parents turned in most of the juveniles.
According to KVOA reporting carried by the Daily Caller News Foundation, a vehicle was rammed into the SNG Tactical store during the October 8 burglary. Three days earlier, on October 5, burglars used a vehicle to ram into Elite Guns and Ammo in Tucson and stole firearms, KVOA reported; that store's owner, Aaron Herman, told the station he was “done” and would be going out of business. The sheriff's department has not publicly confirmed in the reporting whether the two burglaries are linked.
The two ram-raids prompted another Tucson dealer, John Petrush of John's Guns and Ammo, to park his truck in a blocking position in front of his store at night, on a local police officer's recommendation, KVOA reported. Petrush, whose store is near one of the shops targeted, predicted in an October 9 report that police would find those responsible: “They're always going to slip somewhere, whether it be a camera that catches them or just somebody walking by that's seen something.”
Possession of a stolen firearm is a federal crime, the Daily Caller report noted. No charges against the juveniles were detailed in the sheriff's release as summarised, and the investigation remains open, the department said.