4 teenagers arrested after driving their car into a gun shop and stealing weapons

UNION TOWNSHIP, Ohio — Four teens were arrested Sunday morning after driving a car into a gun store and stealing several firearms, Union Township police said.

Police said they were called to Sportman’s Warehouse on Eastgate South Drive shortly after 6 a.m. Sunday for an alarm. Officers found several people had driven a stolen vehicle into the building’s facade. After the crash, they stole “numerous firearms,” ​​but police did not provide details on how many there were.

An officer then spotted a white Hyundai speeding out of the area at a high rate of speed before the driver of the vehicle crashed on Eastgate Boulevard. Police said three occupants fled on foot before being apprehended, while a fourth person was identified as being involved in the theft and arrested.

Police said all four arrested are juveniles from the Cincinnati area and are being held at the Clermont County Detention Center. They face several charges, including theft of firearms from a state-licensed firearms dealer, a first-degree felony.

Police said there have been similar thefts in other areas of the Tri-State region, including Northern Kentucky, Miami Township and Newtown. A WCPO 9 crew saw a vehicle crash into the front of Range USA on Round Bottom Road in Newtown Sunday morning, but it was unclear if any firearms had been stolen.

Marc Price/WCPO

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) is offering a reward of up to $10,000 for information leading to the arrest of six people involved in break-ins at two gun stores in Florence. In both thefts, the suspects also drove a car into the storefronts before stealing guns.

Police say the juveniles arrested following the theft in Union Township are believed to be connected to all other incidents.

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