POLICE have arrested Dennis Sanchez Reyes for breaking into and stealing firearms from a Tinian shooting range.
Reyes, 35, was charged with burglary, theft, theft of firearm, possession of stolen firearm, selling stolen firearms, possession of ammunition, and firearms owner’s identification card violation.
He appeared on Tuesday before Superior Court Associate Judge Joseph N. Camacho who imposed a $50,000 cash bail on the defendant.
Reyes was remanded to the custody of the Department of Corrections after the hearing.
At the hearing, he was represented by Assistant Public Defender Vina Seelam while Chief Prosecutor Chester Hinds appeared for the government.
According to the complaint against Reyes, on Aug. 19, 2022, at around 6:53 p.m., a police officer conducted a violator stop on a Department of Public Works government vehicle operated by Reyes, a DPW employee, after normal working hours.
The vehicle was impounded at the DPS office to be inventoried and kept there for safekeeping.
Police said the first initial inventory resulted in the discovery of numerous expended and unexpended .22 caliber cartridges, empty ammunition boxes and numerous gun trigger locks that were cut/damaged.
After consulting with the Tinian DPS resident director, police conducted a patrol at the American Gun Club Shooting Range in the Kastiyu/Suicide Cliff area on Tinian to check if the establishment was safe and secured.
Tinian police officers were aware that firearms and ammunition were stored at the establishment after it ceased its operations.
Arriving at the shooting range, police officers saw evidence of forced entry at the front door and window.
The armory of the shooting range was forced open, police said, adding that inside were empty handgun boxes, lubricants, and a tire wrench.
The caretaker of the shooting range told police that there were 24 firearms and a large number of ammunition inside the establishment.
Further police investigation revealed that Reyes was selling firearms.
Keys taken as evidence from the shooting range were used to see if any belonged to the gun locks found in the DPW vehicle operated by Reyes on the night of Aug. 19, 2022.
Police said 18 gun locks were opened by the keys procured from the shooting range.
Tinian DPS also conducted a “buy operation” with a “cooperating source.”
With the $300 provided by the police, the cooperating source bought a Beretta M9 handgun and two handgun magazine clips from Reyes.
The cooperating source said Reyes also gave him a Ruger mini-rifle, one rifle magazine clip, and 9mm ammunition for free.
Police said all the firearms belonged to the American Gun Club Shooting Range.
Dennis Sanchez Reyes smiles as he is escorted out of the Guma Hustisia by a Corrections officer after a bail hearing on Tuesday afternoon.
