Two arrested in Citrus Heights and Rocklin gun store burglaries; police search for third suspect
Authorities have arrested two men and were looking for a third suspect wanted in connection with gun store burglaries in Citrus Heights and Rocklin, police said.
Shortly before 5 p.m. Monday, the Citrus Heights Police Department received a report of two firearms stolen from a gun store in the 8000 block of Greenback Lane. The gun store was open for business at the time of the burglary, police said Wednesday in a news release.
Shortly before the Citrus Heights burglary, the Rocklin Police Department reported a gun store burglary in Rocklin with suspects of a similar description, according to Citrus Heights police.
Officers arrived at the Citrus Heights gun store and confirmed that three men entered the business, selected two firearms to steal and then left in a vehicle waiting nearby.
“As a firearms retailer, the business had excellent video surveillance equipment that was extremely valuable in helping officers identify these suspects,” police said in the news release. “Officers immediately began searching the area for the vehicle and shared the information with neighboring agencies.”
Sacramento County sheriff’s deputies spotted the suspects outside the vehicle at an apartment complex along Howe Avenue. Police said the suspects ran away, and deputies caught up to one of them, later identified as 33-year-old Joshua Butler.
Authorities detained and ultimately arrested Butler, who was later identified as one of the suspects in the gun store burglary, according to Citrus Heights police.
On Thursday evening, Citrus Heights police announced detectives had arrested another man identified as a suspect in the gun store burglaries.
Detectives obtained information that the wanted 27-year-old man was at an apartment complex near 47th Avenue in south Sacramento. About 4 p.m. Wednesday, authorities found the burglary suspect and took him into custody, police said.
Police said detectives have identified a 28-year-old man, who is on probation for being a felon in possession of a firearm and is the remaining wanted suspect in the gun store burglaries.
On Friday, Butler remained in custody at the Sacramento County Main Jail, where he was being held in lieu of $260,000 bail. He faces charges of burglary, unlawfully taking a certain firearm and being a felon in possession of a gun, jail records show. He was arraigned Wednesday in Sacramento Superior Court and is scheduled to return to court next Wednesday for further proceedings in his case.
The man arrested Wednesday remained in custody Friday at the Sacramento County Jail, where he faces charges of unlawfully taking a certain firearm and violating probation, jail records show. He was being held without bail and is scheduled to appear Friday afternoon for his arraignment in court.
Investigators asked anyone with information on the wanted suspect’s whereabouts to call the Citrus Heights Police Department’s crime tip line at 916-727-5524.
