By Emma Rausch and David Fenker
news@thepaperofwabash.com
NORTH MANCHESTER, Ind. – North Manchester has become the focal point of a federal investigation of a Fulton County gun shop burglary, in which more than 50 handguns were stolen.
After following several leads, at least six of the 57 stolen firearms have been confirmed recovered within North Manchester’s town limits and two North Manchester men have been charged in connection to the crime.
Robert M. Hoy, 21, North Manchester, was charged with theft of firearms from a licensed firearms dealer, a federal offense.
Charles M. Hammer, 30, North Manchester, was detained in Michigan on Dec. 9. Officials did not confirm arrest charges by The Paper’s deadline.
On Nov. 20, between approximately 12:30 a.m. and 3:30 a.m., an unidentified individual or individuals made a forced entry into the Sand Burr Gun Ranch, located at 2111 E. County Road 350 N. in Rochester, according to a criminal complaint filed in by the United State District Court for the Northern District of Indiana.
The building was not equipped with an alarm or video surveillance system and was uninsured at the time, according to the complaint.
The individual or individuals pried open the front door to enter the building and stole approximately 57 handguns, the document continued.
Since the Sand Burr Gun Ranch is a federal firearms licensee, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) responded to the burglary and joined the Fulton County Sheriff’s Department in the investigation, according to Fulton County Sheriff Chris Sailors.
In December, a North Manchester Police Department officer conducted a routine traffic stop and, during its course, recovered one of the stolen handguns, according to the criminal complaint.
NMPD Chief Jim Kirk declined to comment on the case.
Sheriff Sailors told The Paper of Wabash County that his department anticipated “street-level” officers to be the ones to recover the stolen firearms.
“The thing about it is, and realizing this before we’ve gotten to the point we are now, that we anticipated working this backwards and that would be a street-level police officer or deputy coming across these,” Sailors told The Paper of Wabash County. “Our main focus was to have those guns entered in a database so if (officers) did come across one and they run it and it showed it was a stolen gun, then we can tie it back.”
The gun recovery at the traffic stop led investigators to conduct a search of Wabash County residence, located at 11173 N. State Road 13 just outside of North Manchester, on Jan. 19.
“To my knowledge there weren’t any (firearms) recovered there,” Sailors said.
However, the local investigation did not end there.
On Thursday, Feb. 2, leads led ATF, Fulton County Sheriff’s Department and the North Manchester Police Department, in collaboration with the Indiana Department of Natural Resources Law District One, to conduct an evidence dive in the Eel River at the Liberty Mills public access point.
After running several search patterns, the DNR divers located a backpack containing five of the stolen handguns, according to Sailors.
So far, only two suspects have been charged in connection to the robbery.
“I know that (Hoy is) being detained in the Saint (Joseph) County on federal charges,” Sailors said. “We’ve got the one (suspect) in Michigan and I would anticipate we’ll probably cross state lines and this could drag out for some time.”
The investigation is ongoing.