By Ed White

More than 100 handguns were stolen from a store in southwestern Michigan after the manager was held at gunpoint outside his home and forced to reveal how to turn off the alarm, authorities said Tuesday.

All guns except one were recovered and two men were arrested Friday, a day after the brazen heist at Dunham's Sports, U.S. Attorney Mark Totten said.

“Just look at the firepower on this table,” Jim Deir, head of the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives in Michigan, told reporters.

“There's over $100,000 worth of guns here. ... My experience: These were headed to the streets. These were headed for quick sale, quick money,” Deir said.

The two men, who are brothers, are accused of targeting a Dunham's near Benton Harbor, 100 miles (160.9 kilometers) east of Chicago.

A store manager told investigators he was confronted Thursday night, blindfolded and placed in the rear seat of a car, federal agent Mallorie Campbell said in a court filing.

“One of the subjects held a gun to his head and made him reveal the passcode to the alarm at the store,” Campbell wrote.

Store video shows a man later disabling the alarm system and filling two coolers with 123 handguns, Campbell said.

Investigators got the name of a suspect after he tried to transfer money from the manager's bank account with a cash app, the agent said.

The complaint charges men with four crimes, including gun theft. Campbell said they admitted their roles during interviews with investigators.

“It is no secret that we are experiencing an epidemic of gun violence across the nation, across the state of Michigan and right here in Benton Harbor, as well,” Totten said. “What happened at Dunham’s Sports is a striking example of what is driving this crisis.”

Share:
More In Business
Is U.S. Restaurants’ Breakfast Boom Contributing to High Egg Prices?
It’s a chicken-and-egg problem: Restaurants are struggling with record-high U.S. egg prices, but their omelets, scrambles and huevos rancheros may be part of the problem. Breakfast is booming at U.S. eateries. First Watch, a restaurant chain that serves breakfast, brunch and lunch, nearly quadrupled its locations over the past decade to 570. Fast-food chains like Starbucks and Wendy's added more egg-filled breakfast items. In normal times, egg producers could meet the demand. But a bird flu outbreak that has forced them to slaughter their flocks is making supplies scarcer and pushing up prices. Some restaurants like Waffle House have added a surcharge to offset their costs.
Trump Administration Shutters Consumer Protection Agency
The Trump administration has ordered the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to stop nearly all its work, effectively shutting down the agency that was created to protect consumers after the 2008 financial crisis and subprime mortgage-lending scandal. Russell Vought is the newly installed director of the Office of Management and Budget. Vought directed the CFPB in a Saturday night email to stop work on proposed rules, to suspend the effective dates on any rules that were finalized but not yet effective, and to stop investigative work and not begin any new investigations. The agency has been a target of conservatives since President Barack Obama created it following the 2007-2008 financial crisis.
Load More