Thieves Flee with Gun After Ramming Cave Creek Store
Twisted metal, broken glass, and a storefront in ruins greeted the owner of Cave Creek Guns after thieves used a stolen car to plow through the entrance of his business early Wednesday, causing major damage and making off with a single firearm.
George Urmston, owner of Cave Creek Guns, said the break-in occurred around 12:45 a.m. The suspects drove a stolen vehicle small enough to fit between a row of protective bollards outside the building.
“You’d have to be a marksman to get a car through there,” Urmston said. “They had maybe a, maybe a half an inch to spare to get that car through here,” Urmston said.
Despite the severity of the damage, the thieves made off with only one gun — a fact Urmston described as a silver lining.
“The best part, I guess, the blessing in disguise is they only got one gun,” he said. “As a gun store owner, we are the last line of defense from the guns getting into the hands of the bad people,” he said.
He acknowledged that determined criminals are difficult to stop entirely.
“Somebody wants to get in, they’re going to get in, you can’t prevent all of it,” Urmston said.
Urmston thinks the thieves could be early in their criminal career based on what little they got away with.
“Maybe not so experienced, maybe nerves,” he said.
Urmston said investigators have promising leads.
“They got some great forensic data, fingerprints, stuff like that,” he said, adding he is confident the suspects will be caught.
Anyone with information is asked to contact Silent Witness or Phoenix Police.
The shop will be closed temporarily while repairs are made.
“It stinks. We’re gonna have to be closed for a little while, but, you know, we’ll rebuild. We’ll reopen and, you know, take back up,” Urmston said.
Amid the destruction, one detail stood out. A statue of a U.S. soldier inside the shop was knocked across the store by the force of the crash — yet emerged without a scratch.
“The car went in and hit him, and he ended up across the store, and he doesn’t have a scratch on him. So that’s testimony to resolve the American people in the U.S. over there,” Urmston said.
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