LANSING, Mich. — Sources tell Fox 47 that the man who allegedly stole several firearms from Stock and Field on Dec. 11 is an employee.
Lansing Police received the larceny complaint on Thursday from the store located on Edgewood, near Cedar Street.
Police located and arrested the suspect, Brandon Lee Winters, a 24-year-old Lansing man, who is accused of stealing guns from the store.
Winters has been charged by the Ingham County Prosecutor's office with the following:
Count 1: Weapons – Firearms – Larceny
Count 2: Weapons – Firearms – Larceny
Count 3: Weapons – Firearms – Receiving and Concealing
Count 4: Weapons – Firearms – Receiving and Concealing
Count 5: Weapons – Felony Firearm
Count 6: Weapons – Felony Firearm
Count 7: Weapons – Felony Firearm
Count 8: Weapons – Felony Firearm
Lansing Police were assisted by detectives, Michigan State Police and an agent from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (A.T.F.) with the investigation.
Stock and Field is described as "a premier farm, home, and outdoor retailer."
Michigan State Police Lieutenant Brian Oleksyk told us that any time a gun is reporting missing it is an extremely serious offense.
"You don't know where those guns are," he said. "You don't know what they're going to end up involved in and it's a safety matter."
Legally, gun owners have five days to tell police they're missing, but Oleksyk says that the process becomes tricky if the serial number gets removed.
"A lot of criminals who are going to use a stolen gun in a crime file off a serial number, but there is a process to recover that,"said Oleksyk. "It’s also a lengthy process to do."
According to the U.S. Department of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, 236 guns were stolen in Michigan in 2018.
Winters is scheduled for a probable cause conference on Dec. 26 at 1 p.m. and a preliminary hearing on January 2, 2020 at 8:30 a.m.
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