Federal judge sides with Delaware DOJ, returning Cabela's investigation to state courts
Delaware can continue investigating Cabela's for lax storage and shoplifting prevention practices that the state Department of Justice started last year after half a million rounds of ammunition were stolen from its Christiana Mall store, a federal judge ruled.
U.S. District Judge Richard G. Andrews also ordered that the state DOJ's case can return to Delaware state courts, where stronger laws about gun dealer conduct apply. Andrews also awarded legal fees to the state, which will be determined later.
"I'm grateful to the court for its ruling and glad that Cabela's legal games continue to be unsuccessful," Attorney General Kathy Jennings said in a statement. "Almost a year into this investigation, Cabela's is still evading basic questions and trying to hide the truth. Every round of ammunition that walked out of that store is capable of ending a life, and Cabela's apparently casual attitude about that fact raises serious questions about just how pervasive their issues were.
"Gun dealers need to take reasonable steps to prevent gun violence — we are still waiting for evidence that Cabela's did. We're looking forward to stating our case in Superior Court."
Cabela's parent company, the Great American Outdoors Group, could not be immediately reached for comment on Wednesday.
Jennings announced last summer the state DOJ was asking the Delaware Superior Court to enforce a subpoena against Cabela's seeking information about ammunition shoplifted from its Christiana location. Investigators believe that at least 500,000 rounds of ammunition were stolen from Cabela’s in less than a year and that a substantial portion of it was sold to violent criminals and drug dealers in Delaware and Pennsylvania.
How the investigation began
The state DOJ began investigating Cabela's early last year after receiving reports of thefts of significant quantities of ammunition.
One of the people interviewed by a DOJ special investigator was 39-year-old Danielle M. Brookens, who'd been arrested in December 2022 for stealing from Cabela's. During a March interview, Brookens told the special investigator that she shoplifted half a million rounds of ammunition from the Christiana Mall store over a year's time.
"It was easy to steal ammunition out in the open shelves and the security was lacking," is the reason Brookens gave for shoplifting from the store, according to court documents obtained by Delaware Online/The News Journal.
More: How a pattern of shoplifting ammunition led Delaware to demand Cabela's records
Brookens explained that on more than 20 occasions, she would place boxes of ammo in a shopping cart covered by her coat. She added others were also shoplifting ammunition from the store and that they had been doing so before she started stealing from them in December 2021.
While she told investigators she was "well known to employees and at least one supervisor" who saw her often in the store, "they did not typically confront her or take action to prevent her shoplifting."
She said she would sell the ammo at about a third of its retail price to Delaware pawn shops. She would also sell ammo to "gang-related individuals" in Philadelphia and Dover, making more than $100,000.
No 'meaningful answers'
The state DOJ's investigation is focusing on whether Cabela's violated any laws, including Delaware’s firearms industry public nuisance law, through its hands-off approach to the shoplifting of ammunition.
According to the DOJ, the ammunition was stored unsecured in the middle of the sales floor with no apparent effort to stop massive shoplifting. After investigators subpoenaed Cabela’s in February, the DOJ said Cabela's moved its ammunition behind a sales counter.
Other potential violations include the Keshall "KeKe" Anderson Safe Firearms Sales Act. This law, passed in 2022, is named for KeKe Anderson, an innocent bystander who was killed in a 2016 shooting involving a firearm bought through a straw purchase at Cabela's.
As part of its investigation, the state Justice Department is demanding to see Cabela's records, specifically its loss prevention policies. The DOJ also wants to see the records of other Cabela's and its sister store, Bass Pro Shop, within 100 miles of the Christiana Mall location — this would include at least two in Pennsylvania, one in New Jersey and another in Maryland.
"Cabela's failed to produce any meaningful answer to the state's questions and instead attempted, unsuccessfully, to remove the case to a federal court in order to delay and ultimately block the investigation," said Mat Marshall, a DOJ spokesman.
In court filings Cabela's parent company, the Great American Outdoors Group, objected to the subpoena, calling it "overbroad" and saying the summons seeks documents containing trade secrets, confidential business or other proprietary information.
Send tips or story ideas to Esteban Parra at (302) 324-2299 or eparra@delawareonline.com.
This article originally appeared on Delaware News Journal: Judge sends Cabela's stolen ammo investigation back to Superior Court
