Four charged after 35 firearms stolen from Brooksville store

BROOKSVILLE, Fla. - Hernando County Sheriff Al Nienhuis announced Monday the arrest of an adult and three juveniles related to the burglary of a gun store.

"They are not a choir group," said Sheriff Nienhuis. 

Last Wednesday, deputies said the juveniles and 23-year-old Devonte Smith cased, broke into and burglarized a gun store near downtown Brooksville.

"It is very likely one of these weapons could have been used not just to kill another gang member, which we don't want," said Sheriff Nienhuis. "But to kill an innocent adult or police officer."

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Detectives tracked them down after they were spotted carrying one of the guns shortly after the burglary. They said Smith is a gang member, along with at least two of the fifteen-year-olds.

"This is like cash to them," he said of the guns. "If they haven't planned that specifically, very quickly, they would have thought, ‘wow, we could make some money off of this and win some favor from other criminals.’"

The sheriff said only a quick-thinking citizen and a little luck kept all these guns from making it even further onto the street.

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Guns recovered by the Hernando County Sheriff's Office 

"You can imagine how quickly they would have gone through the criminal element and dispersed probably all over the Tampa Bay area, if not the state, and maybe further," Sheriff Nienhuis said.

Deputies said the anonymous tip came from someone who recognized one of the suspects as they were walking around holding the guns, which were later found in backpacks. All four are being charged as adults.

"We want to send a message to the young people who might be thinking about getting involved in something that is glamorous like this, to realize that it's glamorous for a few seconds. And then you have years where it is not so glamorous," the sheriff said. 

In this case, deputies were able to recover every one of the guns that were stolen.