6 men charged with stealing 300 firearms in break-ins across Southern California

Six men are facing federal charges in connection with a string of burglaries across Southern California in which they allegedly rammed stolen vehicles into gun stores before breaking into them and stealing more than 300 firearms. 

The burglaries were committed over a nine-month period, targeting nine different businesses in cities located in five different counties across the region from Ventura County down to San Diego County, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Central District of California. The six men, who range in age from 18 to 23, are accused of stealing a total of 312 guns from October of last year until just last week — when federal prosecutors say they stole 70 firearms from Fowler Gun Room in Orange. 

Security footage of that latest heist shows an allegedly stolen Kia drive backwards into the entrance of Fowler, its rear-end shattering the glass storefront before a group of masked burglars in dark-colored clothing run inside. It took the vehicle three attempts before the metal security gate on the storefront was heavily damaged enough for them to get in.

Video shows them smash the glass cases of guns with sledgehammers before stealing dozens of firearms.

"And these are going to be guns, if we don't get them back, used on the street to commit other crimes, other robberies and that's why our detectives are collaborating with other departments to get these people arrested as quick as possible," Orange Police Department Lt. Phil McMullin said. 

McMullin said Monday that the Orange Police Department was working with other law enforcement agencies and the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives as they investigated the break-in at Fowler two days earlier. 

On Tuesday, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Central District of California announced six men were arrested and in state custody, waiting to appear in U.S. District Court in Santa Ana Tuesday afternoon. Federal prosecutors said the stolen guns were being sold on the black market and some had already surfaced in other criminal investigations. 

Among the defendants are three Lake Elsinore men including Caine Aiden Goree, 22; Cross Arjay Goree, a.k.a. "C3", 18; and Kendall Eric Johnson, a.k.a. "K3", 23. The other two defendants are Calvin Logan Gray, 18, of Murietta and Kenneth Gilmore III, a.k.a. "Kenny", 19, of Las Vegas.

Federal prosecutors allege they targeted the following gun stores, sometimes managing to actually take off with dozens of weapons, and other times, attempting to do so. They are accused of breaking into one store in October of last year and another this past March, with the rest of the burglaries all committed over the last two months.

• Oct. 29: Chaparral Coin and Gun in Murrieta; 43 firearms allegedly stolen.
• Mar. 25: Poway Weapons and Gear in Poway; 78 firearms allegedly stolen.
• June 12: Ammos Bros. in Ontario; attempted burglary.
• June 13: Fallbrook Guns and Ammo in Fallbrook; attempted burglary.
• June 17: Firearms Unknown in Oceanside; 33 firearms allegedly stolen.
• June 18: Ammo Bros. in Riverside; 25 firearms allegedly stolen.
• July 1: Camarillo Gun Store in Camarillo; 63 firearms allegedly stolen.
• July 9: Smokin Barrel Gun Store in Simi Valley; attempted burglary.
• July 13: Fowler Gun Room in Orange; 70 firearms allegedly stolen.

Law enforcement officials served a federal search warrant at the home believed to be where Caine and Cross Goree and Kendall Johnson all live — discovering at least 45 firearms there from the last burglary at Fowler's in Orange, prosecutors said.  They also found one firearm from Poway Weapons and Gear, another one from Chaparral Coin and Gun and two firearms allegedly stolen from the Camarillo Gun Store, according to federal prosecutors, who said two of the defendants tried escaping the home when officers arrived.

"While officers were announcing their presence, they allegedly observed Gilmore and Cross fleeing from the back of the residence, and both were later detained," the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Central District of California said in a statement.