HARRISBURG — Attorney General Dave Sunday — along with the Allegheny County Police Department and U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives — announced arrests of seven juveniles and an 18-year-old in connection with the thefts and illegal transfers of numerous firearms, resulting from gun store burglaries.
Law enforcement officials charged members of the group this week with felony corrupt organizations, receiving stolen property, conspiracy, burglary, illegal transfer of firearms, illegal possession of firearms, and related offenses.
In all, the group is responsible for thefts of 79 firearms taken in burglaries at gun shops in Allegheny County and Ohio. Officials seized many of the firearms; about two dozen firearms are unaccounted for.
Chalais Ramey, 19, is the only defendant charged as an adult, for the time being. The Office of Attorney General will prosecute the cases.
“These crimes alarmed the community — and for good reason. Any and all thefts of firearms should be perceived as direct threats to public safety. I am very pleased that, along with our partners, we can say today that we know who was responsible and we are holding them accountable with very serious charges,” Attorney General Sunday said. “Due to many of these being juvenile allegations at the moment, I am limited in what can be said publicly, but I assure Pennsylvanians that we are not treating these crimes as child’s play.”
Allegheny County Police Superintendent Christopher Kearns said: “The actions of these individuals have already had tragic consequences and endangered countless lives in our community. We are grateful for the teamwork and cooperation from all of the agencies involved in this investigation and we will continue to work to remove all of these stolen guns from our streets.”
“Stolen guns threaten our communities’ safety,” said Eric DeGree, Special Agent in Charge of the ATF Philadelphia Field Division. “They fuel illicit trafficking and are used by violent criminals to terrorize our neighborhoods. That’s why ATF aggressively responds to gun shop burglaries with both our special agents and industry operations teams. Thanks to our close partnership with the Allegheny County Police, Office of the Pennsylvania Attorney General and other state and local partners, we were able to track down and apprehend the suspects in last year’s burglaries, and we recovered 55 stolen firearms. This case should be a warning to those who think our gun shops are an easy target to burglarize.”
The seven defendants charged as juveniles were between the ages of 14 and 17 at the time of the crimes. They are all males.
The charges regard a burglary at Allegheny Arms in Bethel Park on January 13, 2025. During that break-in, 56 firearms were stolen. On the same day, members of the group attempted to burglarize two other gun stores in Allegheny County.
On January 19, 2025, members of the group broke into Expert Outfitters in North Lima, Ohio, and stole 23 firearms.
The group used stolen vehicles during the burglaries and attempted burglaries.
Corrupt organization charges were filed this week regarding the Ohio matter, as the organization was based in and conspired in Allegheny County. The burglary and related offenses are being investigated by Ohio officials.
Criminal charges, and any discussion thereof, are merely allegations and all defendants are presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.ydr
Attorney General Sunday’s full statement, as presented at today’s press conference:
“I am very pleased and proud that, along with our partners, we can say today that we know who was responsible for these burglaries, and that we are holding them accountable with very serious charges. My office will diligently prosecute these cases.
These crimes alarmed the community — and for good reason. Any and all thefts of firearms should be perceived as direct threats to public safety.
Due to the charging of juveniles, I am limited in what can be said publicly about the upcoming prosecutions. But I will assure Pennsylvanians that my office does not intend to treat these crimes as child’s play. The evidence shows that these brazen burglaries and thefts were deliberate and premeditated, as were the efforts to illegally traffic and transfer the guns.”
# # #