A Honda CRV that slammed into a gun shop near Sacramento early Wednesday morning in a brazen robbery was tracked to a home in East Oakland later in the day and resulted in arrests, authorities said.
Security cameras recorded the mini SUV slamming through the front of the Rocklin Armory and at least four men climbing over a security gate and into the store. Most of the weapons in the store were locked up, but the men managed to steal an AK-47 rifle, police said.
Investigators said the group has struck before.
"The vehicle drove into the front of the business; it's similar to what we had at NorCal Gun Vault several months ago," said Trent Jewell of the Rocklin Police Department. "We think it is related to that."
In the surveillance footage, investigators noted the license plate and an "I'm for Hillary" sticker on the vehicle. They say the same car was used in another gun store burglary later Wednesday morning in Folsom, where the men stole 15 guns.
The ATF would not say how many people were arrested at the East Oakland home near 68th Avenue and MacArthur Boulevard or whether any weapons were recovered.
The Rocklin store posted surveillance video of the burglary on its Facebook page, showing the black car pulling up onto the curb and backing into the storefront repeatedly, smashing the front glass and the security gate. The post said the burglary happened at about 4 a.m.
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The car's license plate number of 6VCB742 is clearly visible in the video.
Once the gate is smashed, the suspects rush in. They leave about a minute later. The gun store also posted photos of the four suspects.
One of the suspects had "Oakland U.S.A." on the front of his hoodie, and the vehicle was from Oakland.
The bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms said that over the past 6 months, there have been several gun store robberies in the Sacramento area, with more than 240 firearms reported stolen.
"There's far more firearms dealers here in Sacramento than say in the Bay Area counties," said Graham Barlowe of the ATF.
