Westmoreland County gun shop reopens after burglary
NEW KENSINGTON, Pa. (KDKA) - A Westmoreland County gun shop reopened Saturday after suspects burglarized it last month, during its first year in business. The investigation continues with the search for the stolen guns, but the owners are happy to be moving forward.
RC Firearms opened its doors to customers once again after days of clean-up from a burglary.
During the early morning of Jan. 22, owners Roy and Cole Berg got a call from their security company that someone had broken into their business off Freeport Street in New Kensington.
"It was disbelief," Roy said. "I had no words at the time."
Agents with the ATF charged Michael Guin and Steyn Sarduy in the incident, which was captured on surveillance cameras. The ATF said they used a stolen pickup truck to ram through the front door and, once inside, busted into multiple glass display cases with a hammer, grabbed 24 guns, and stuffed them into a backpack.
Roy is relieved investigators caught the suspects, but to prevent it from happening again, they installed barriers outside and new cameras and motion sensors.
"Everything worked, [with the] exception of the idea of them driving a truck through the door," Roy said.
It also took a lot of sleep nights and help from customers to get the place back in order, including 40 to 50 hours of cleaning the shop and the products. They also had to repair a block on the building, put up a new door, and replace the glass for the display cases.
"We've had quite a few customers in the construction business show up and do repairs and not even charge us, not even ask us for a thing," Roy said.
At the same time, he's been stressed thinking about the guns still out there. The ATF told KDKA that so far, they've recovered three.
Sources told KDKA Murrysville Medic One and Greensburg Fire Department dive teams, the ATF, state police, and New Kensington police were searching for more along the banks of the Allegheny River Friday. The ATF would not say what led them to search the water.
"Why would they go through all that trouble for them to throw them in the river? It's senseless," Roy said.
While he may not want them back, Roy hopes they're found.
"We have a responsibility. Everybody does, but we have a responsibility to try to secure everything that we own," Roy said.
Sources told KDKA investigators and dive teams will return to the river to continue searching for the guns Sunday morning.
