INDIANAPOLIS — The Greenwood Police Department arrested four teenagers Saturday after an attempted burglary of a local gun store.
On Saturday, Sept. 14, officers responded to a report of the attempted burglary at the Atkinson Firearms store in the 1200 block of Airport Parkway, near County Line Road and Emerson Avenue.
As a result of their investigation, police arrested two 18-year-olds and two 14-year-olds — all four from Indianapolis.
On Sept. 19, the Johnson County Prosecutor's Office announced it had charged Devon Warren Tibbs and Javanta Tavainy Phillips, both 18.
The prosecutor said Tibbs has been charged with two counts of attempted burglary, a Level 5 felony and one count of identity deception, a Level 6 felony.
Phillips was charged with two counts of attempted burglary, a Level 5 felony, resisting law enforcement, a Level 6 felony and operating while never having received a license, a misdemeanor.
"It's sad for them and their families. It's a really dumb choice to make. They're looking at a penalty of six years in prison, and it's not a good way to start off your life," Johnson County Prosecutor Lance Hamner said.
Just three days before the attempted burglary, another teen was arrested for stealing from another Greenwood gun store that was crashed into and had 16 of its firearms stolen.
The Greenwood Police Department told 13News that around 3 a.m. Sept. 9, around 20 handguns were stolen from the Greenwood Trading Post, located at 2801 Fairview Place A, off State Road 135 and a few blocks south of Fry Road.
On Wednesday, Greenwood detectives executed a search warrant of a 16-year-old suspect, where they found a gun that had been stolen from the same store.
Police believe two other teenagers were involved and that two stolen cars were used in the burglary.
"The thing that bothers me is not only are they selling these guns illegally, but the people who are purchasing are not buying them for a good reason," Hamner said. "So what they're not thinking about is if that gets used in a terrible crime, maybe somebody gets killed, it's going to impact them for the rest of their life. In addition, they ruined someone else's life."
Both burglaries are under ongoing investigations.