Criminals may have thought their break-in at a Mercer gun store on Monday went like clockwork until Pittsburgh Police caught up with them that same night.

According to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms, it was barely five minutes between the time that a car crashed through the window of Seconds Count Firearms on North Diamond Street, and when three burglars left the store carrying twenty-one AR-15 rifles.

An affidavit filed in U.S. District Court indicates that a lot of planning went into the heist.

Using a Kia Optima stolen from Erie, the thieves drove the car through the business display window at around 5:15 a.m.

 

 

Security video shows two suspects, their faces covered, loading the rifles into bags carrying them outside, and returning for more.  One of the shrouded figures tried to smash a handgun display case with the butt of a rifle but couldn’t break the glass.

 

 

At 5:20 a.m., the suspects walked away along North Diamond Street.

Police arrived two minutes later and began collecting evidence.

After learning that a white Hyundai Accent had been stolen that morning and had last been seen two blocks north of the break-in, authorities put out an alert to locate the vehicle.

Although the license plate had been switched on the Hyandai, the suspects didn’t know that the owner was tracing it through GPS and was giving authorities updates on its location.

Using that information and images from license plate readers, Police in Pittsburgh spotted the Hyundai.

Investigators say the driver rammed the Hyundai into one of the police cruisers that had boxed them in. One adult and three juveniles were arrested.

Police say three AR-15 rifles, two of them with Seconds Count price tags attached could be seen inside the car, according to the affidavit.

Officers say the car’s trunk lid had popped open when the car rammed the cruiser.  A sleeping bag in the trunk appeared to be covering “large objects” according to police.

 

 One of the suspects, identified as 19-year-old Mehki Reed of Pittsburgh, has been charged with person not to possess a firearm. On Wednesday, Reed remained held in the Allegheny County Jail without bond.

The three juvenile suspects, whose names have not been released, have been charged with possession of a firearm by a minor and receiving stolen property.