Would-be thieves smash into Smiths Station gun store — again

For the second time in six weeks, a Smiths Station gun shop has been targeted by burglars who back a pickup truck into the building hoping for a big weapons haul.

And for the second time, the would-be thieves walked away empty handed, according to Rodney Stariha, owner of Flat Iron Arms on Lee Road 246.

The first time it happened was Oct. 15. Stariha is convinced the same two men came back at 4:24 a.m. Monday morning, backing a Ford F-150 into the front of the strip-center building.

“There is no question it’s the same two guys as last time,” Stariha said Monday morning amid the broken glass, busted brick and twisted metal framing that were once the facade of the store.

One of the reason he is so certain is the way the thieves, both appearing to be younger black men, acted when they got inside the store.

“The last time, they took seven empty boxes,” he said. “This time, they got nothing.”

Stariha, a retired Army medic who owns the business with his wife, Kristie, secures the weapons away from the open display area.

“This time they went straight to the back room,” he said. “... It is going to take lot more than a couple of thugs to get in here and get anything. It is going to take a career criminal.”

It is believed the suspects were watching the business prior to the break-in, Lee County Sheriff’s Office Capt. Van Jackson said.

“We had a deputy in that parking lot prior to the truck backing into the business,” Jackson said. “The deputy left and moments later it happened. The same deputy responded to the call.”

There is surveillance video of the break-in, Jackson said.

“Both of them had face coverage, but we were able to get a pretty good look at one of them,” Jackson said. “It appears they were in the store no more than three or four minutes.”

In October, the break-in caused the store, which has been in its current location for 13 months, to remain closed for two weeks while the building was repaired. It will likely be closed for a couple of weeks this time, Stariha said.

“And this is our busiest time of the year,” he said.

The cost to repair the damage caused in October was more than $2,500, building owner Thomas Roberts said. It will be more this time, Roberts said.

The six-unit strip center has been open for almost 30 years, Roberts said. There has been little crime until recently, Roberts said.

“We have had one break-in where they cut a small hole in the back of the building,” he said. “Now, they are backing trucks into the building.”

The crime is being investigated by the Lee County Sheriff’s Office and the Federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms.

This story was originally published November 27, 2017 at 11:59 AM with the headline "Would-be thieves smash into Smiths Station gun store — again."