Sheriff: Facebook posts lead to arrest of two suspected in gun store break-in
Pair also charged with similar crime in Portage
An incriminating Facebook post has reportedly led investigators to two of three men suspected in a recent break-in at the Huron Valley Guns store in Lyon Township.
The third suspect is still at-large, according to the Oakland County Sheriff’s Office.
Arrest warrants were issued in 52-1 District Court on Tuesday for Grand Rapids residents Dylan Hinkle, 18, and Emanuel Northern, 19, charging them with breaking and entering with intent to commit larceny for the Sept. 21 incident at the business, located at 56477 Grand River Ave. The charge is punishable by up to 10 years in prison.
The two, who authorities said called themselves gang members, posted images of themselves on Facebook standing by the vehicle they used in the Lyon Township store break-in with weapons taken during a break-in at a gun store in Portage, Michigan which happened hours later, according to the sheriff’s office. Hinkle and Northern are facing multiple felony charges in that case.
“Clearly, these individuals engaged in a criminal enterprise of breaking into gun stores and selling them into the criminal underworld,” Oakland County Sheriff Michael Bouchard stated in a news release. “Without question, I believe these guns ultimately would have been involved in numerous other crimes and possibly homicide. Great cooperative police work with the agencies involved in taking these dangerous criminals off the street.”
Nothing was reported stolen in the Huron Valley Guns break-in, where — based on surveillance video — three suspects believed to be Hinkle, Northern and another unidentified person. A security alarm was set off when one of them threw a concrete block through a window of the business’ garage door, which provides access to the store’s restaurant, the sheriff’s office said. The three suspects, all wearing masks and gloves, went inside and tried to enter the store’s showroom but were unable to break into the entry door window. They then left the store and drove away in a grey Jeep that had no license plate, the sheriff’s office said.
In the Portage case, Hinkle and Northern are accused of breaking into Tactical Advantage Guns and stealing more than $1,000 worth of laser-equipped training pistols. They’re in the Kent County Jail on a federal charge of conducting a criminal enterprise as they await possible other charges. Detectives believe the suspects had identified buyers for the stolen weapons. Bond is set at $50,000 for each of them.
The two cases were connected after the Kent County Sheriff’s Office saw similarities between the Portage break-in and the Lyon Township break-in, based on a bulletin issued by the Oakland County Sheriff’s Office. Hinkle and Northern were identified from Facebook posts, based on their clothing, the Oakland County Sheriff’s Office office said.
“A Kent County Sheriff’s analyst, who had been in contact with Portage police, later discovered a video of the suspects posing with the guns stolen from the Portage store had been displayed on Facebook,” the Oakland County Sheriff’s Office stated in the news release.
Grand Rapids police and a task force with the U.S. Marshals began watching a house known to be occupied by one of the suspects, and on Sept. 23, a search warrant was executed. Hinkle and Northern were inside and arrested, the sheriff’s office said.
Court appearances by Hinkle and Northern for the Lyon Township-related charges are pending.
“Clearly, these individuals engaged in a criminal enterprise of breaking into gun stores and selling them into the criminal underworld,”
— Oakland County Sheriff Michael Bouchard