The four male juveniles accused of planning to break into Vandalia Tactical will be detained pending further prosecution, Montgomery County Juvenile Court Judge Anthony Capizzi ruled Tuesday.
Vandalia police and agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives arrested six people early Monday morning who had allegedly planned to steal firearms. Two are adults.
The four juveniles who appeared in Montgomery County Juvenile Court on Tuesday are 16, 15, 15, and 12 years old — and all have previous experience in the justice system. One of the 15-year-olds was awaiting sentencing for his role in the multi-jurisdictional car theft ring caught by police in December.
Capizzi entered denials on behalf of all four defendants and said private attorneys will be appointed for each before their next court date July 13.
“At this point, these are extremely serious charges,” Capizzi told the mother of the 12-year-old on Tuesday. “He has had some involvement with this court. That concerns me, at age 12, already.”
Montgomery County assistant prosecutor Julie Bruns said all but the 12 year-old — the only defendant with a parent at the hearing — could be charged as an adult.
Bruns said that if her office asked for that designation then Capizzi would decide. She said the most likely candidate for adult charges is the 15-year-old who was scheduled to be sentenced Friday for the car theft felonies.
“He is going nowhere anytime soon,” Capizzi said while canceling that hearing. “Knowing that you were already before this court for disposition this Friday, you’re putting yourself in a very difficult position.”
In Monday’s case, law enforcement authorities alleged the accused defendants were on their way at 3 a.m. Monday to break into Vandalia Tactical at 312 N. Dixie Drive.
Police identified a stolen car apparently on its way to Vandalia Tactical, and officers conducted a traffic stop and found in the vehicle a concrete block, which police say is a tool of choice for would-be burglars.
The case is the latest in a string of area gun store thefts or attempted thefts.
Bruns said juveniles can face much less time than adults for similar crimes, saying second-degree felonies for juveniles can mean a year in juvenile jail while adults could face two to eight years: “It’s quite a bit different, yeah.”
Adrian Taylor, then 17, was charged as an adult with 42 counts of grand theft of a firearm for being part of a three-person crew that allegedly stole guns from Vandalia Range & Armory last August. Taylor, a convicted sex offender while a juvenile, pleaded not guilty and his trial has not been scheduled.
Co-defendant Domenicque Allen, 18, was sentenced to 2½ years while co-defendant, Dennis Lamar Taylor Jr., 20, was sentenced to three years in prison, to be served at the same time as a 30-month prison sentence from a federal prosecution.
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