INDIANAPOLIS — An employee at a Lawrence pawn shop allegedly admitted to detectives that he stole 12 firearms from a secure back room in the business and sold many to a friend in order to fund a trip to Jamaica.
Myron Anderson, 19, of Indianapolis is charged with 12 counts of theft, a Level 5 felony.
According to court documents, Lawrence police officers were called by the manager of EZ Pawn, located on Pendleton Pike, on June 26 after several firearms were discovered to be missing from the pawn shop’s secure back room.
The manager told police that only managers have access to the secure room where jewelry, firearms and other high-priced items are stored. However, the manager said he captured footage of Anderson removing firearms from the room.
Investigators reviewed the footage which reportedly showed Anderson enter the secure room to store jewelry before closing up the shop for the night. Anderson ended up walking to a back corner, however, that is just out of the camera’s view where the firearms are stored.
Police said Anderson could then be seen exiting the room trying to conceal an item. Anderson repeated this process multiple times, according to court documents, and then could be seen dragging a trash can and a TV box to his parked vehicle.
Court documents reveal that when investigators spoke with Anderson, the 19-year-old eventually admitted to the thefts. While the pawn shop manager discovered that 19 firearms were missing, Anderson only admitted to stealing 12 guns.
Anderson told investigators that he sold most of the stolen guns to a friend to help fund a vacation to Jamaica. A few of the guns were still in Anderson’s possession, however, and were recovered by police.
If convicted, Anderson could face up to six years in prison on a Level 5 felony.
