Arrests made in gun thefts

GATES – Armed to the hilt, a contingent of nearly 40 law enforcement officers from various agencies conducted simultaneous raids at four Gates County residences late Wednesday afternoon, all apparently linked to a rash of gun thefts in the county since mid-April.

Details from those raids were still sketchy as of 9 p.m. Wednesday night, but the Roanoke-Chowan News-Herald was able to attain information regarding the arrests of five individuals.

Gates County Sheriff Ed Webb said Robert Paris and Jordan Hyatt were under arrest. Their ages, addresses and charges are unknown at this time.

Meanwhile, Suffolk, Va. Police conducted a “buy-bust” of three individuals in a parking lot of that city around 5:45 p.m. on Wednesday. Arrested there were Rashawn Goodman, Anthony Harrison and Dominique Wilkins. Their charges, as well as ages and addresses, are also unknown.

The raids in Gates County were conducted at residences on US 13 North, NC 37 in Gates, Sarem Road and Hackney Road.

Sheriff Webb said the raids in his county as well as the Suffolk arrests were all connected to a series of weapons thefts. Those thefts have occurred in Gates County, Hertford County and Pasquotank County as well as in Suffolk, Va. Pistols, shotguns, high-powered hunting rifles and civilian model assault weapons appeared to be popular among the thieves.

“This has been an ongoing investigation for the past six months,” Webb said. “We have been working closely with the Suffolk Police on this as well as the federal ATF (Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms) folks.”

Webb said other arrests are pending. He added that the investigation revealed that the weapons stolen in Gates County were altered by scratching off the serial numbers and then enter into the illegal gun trade market. Most of those weapons found their way into Virginia, according to the Sheriff.

“From there we believe these weapons have made their way up into the New Jersey and New York area,” Webb said.

At 4 p.m. Wednesday afternoon, a small army of law enforcement officers gathered at the Hertford County Emergency Management office near Winton to map out their final strategy before making the raids. There, Sheriff Webb issued a warning to those gathered to “be very careful because these guys we’re after are armed.”

Webb added that those being sought for the rash of thefts all have federal and state (North Carolina and Virginia) felony warrants filed against them.

Dividing into four, eight-person teams (plus a fifth squad as back-up), the raids in Gates County went off without major incident. There was a pit bull shot and killed by officers after they entered a residence at 946 NC 37 in Gates.

“Upon entering that residence, the officers were confronted by a pit bull,” Webb said. “After a verbal command failed to scare off the dog, one shot was fired (apparently in the floor) in an effort to frighten the dog, but the dog continued to advance towards the officers in a threatening manner so there was no other recourse than to shoot the animal.”

Several other dogs were safely removed from that residence.