2 arrested after theft of guns in brazen daylight home invasion
Two people were arrested Thursday after breaking into an Ypsilanti Township home and stealing a small arsenal of weapons, deputies said Friday.
Washtenaw County Sheriff’s Office Sgt. Geoffrey Fox said someone spotted three teenagers walking in the 300 block of Elder Street in Ypsilanti Township with a gun case and other items at 12:30 p.m. Thursday and called police.
Fox said sheriff’s office deputies and Ypsilanti Police Department officers checked the area and found one of the suspects at a residence and arrested another after a short foot chase.
Bill Riney, the owner of the home that was broken into, said he wasn’t home at the time of the break-in but got a call from a neighbor alerting him that unfamiliar people were at his home. Riney said he returned and called 911, and deputies quickly came to the scene.
The daylight break-in stunned Riney.
“I was shocked, the brazenness of it,” he said. “They went through a window anyone driving down the street could see them falling through.”
Riney said there’s been a small rash of home invasions happening in his neighborhood during the last few days. He said his neighbor’s sister’s home had been broken into recently and residents in the area have been on high alert.
The fact that neighbors were looking out for each other and reporting suspicious individuals in a home was a major factor in the quick police response, Riney said.
Within minutes, the deputies were tracking down the suspects. Riney said he listened to deputies and Ypsilanti officers chase the suspects on a police scanner and was left impressed by the effort
“They were highly professional,” he said.
Fox said the teenagers took two shotguns and a rifle, along with a jar of change from Riney’s home. The items were recovered and at least one of the shotguns has already been returned to Riney.
One of the arrested suspects was a juvenile and turned over to his parents. The other, a 17-year-old male, was held at the Washtenaw County Detention Center on juvenile warrants, Fox said.
Riney is known locally as “The Free Hot Dog Man” for distributing hot dogs in the Ypsilanti area and has campaigned for state office. He’s also staged one-man protests that include climbing into trees to prevent them from being cut down and climbing the Washtenaw County Administration Building to protest unemployment.
Kyle Feldscher covers cops and courts for AnnArbor.com. He can be reached at kylefeldscher@annarbor.com or you can follow him on Twitter.
Comments
Gandolph
Tue, Aug 20, 2013 : 7:25 a.m.
Proponents of the right for everyone to own a firearm all the the time any time in the home should read the papers. I must see this story once a week, dealing with what were once legal firearms leading to people on the streets committing crimes and killing children and young people for nothing but robberies and drug money. Junkies will kill and junkies want money fast and junkies will find ways to steal your guns when they rob your houses. And, please don't tell me you lock them up. I ca tell you too many stories where this was not true with unfortunate accident like 14 year old blowing their heads off, but the parent said they locked it up. That was a funeral I would have rather avoided.
Harm
Sat, Aug 17, 2013 : 9:42 p.m.
I'm glad to see the police caught the alleged burglars so efficiently. But I have to say also, I'm in agreement with those who take annarbor.com to task for the inflammatory NY Post style writing, "arsenal" and "home invasion".
genetracy
Sat, Aug 17, 2013 : 7:11 p.m.
So three guns is a small arsenal. What is the change jar? A life's fortune?
EyeHeartA2
Sat, Aug 17, 2013 : 9:41 p.m.
Maybe, in this case.
JRW
Sat, Aug 17, 2013 : 6:24 p.m.
"One of the arrested suspects was a juvenile and turned over to his parents. The other, a 17-year-old male, was held at the Washtenaw County Detention Center on juvenile warrants, Fox said." These punks will be back out there in short order. Turned over to his parents? What kind of punishment is that?
Snarf Oscar Boondoggle
Tue, Aug 20, 2013 : 6:50 p.m.
"turned over to parents" ...WHAT parents -- oh,wait;nevermind
Jay Thomas
Sun, Aug 18, 2013 : 12:30 a.m.
My baby didn't do nuffin.
genetracy
Sat, Aug 17, 2013 : 7:11 p.m.
It is called juvenile justice. They just be babies.
Jay Thomas
Sat, Aug 17, 2013 : 3:13 p.m.
I see this meeting of a democrat politician and his constituents didn't go so well.
Greg
Sat, Aug 17, 2013 : 1:55 p.m.
Amazed the article avoided using the "assault weapons" label as usually they call anything bigger than a BB gun such. Now that three guns of indeterminate type and size are considered an arsenal, guess that will be the new standard for reporting.
murphthesurf
Sat, Aug 17, 2013 : 12:51 p.m.
get a BIG DOG!
matt1027
Sun, Aug 18, 2013 : 2:48 p.m.
Knowing this type of person they'd probably steal the dog and throw it in a ring with pitbulls for a little entertainment. They don't deserve to be funded by our society, and their parents should be ashamed of what failures they are.
Laurie Barrett
Sat, Aug 17, 2013 : 12:19 p.m.
If they had stolen a change jar and nothing else, I'd sentence them one way. Because they stole guns, I'd sentence them a different way.
Mike
Sat, Aug 17, 2013 : 4:31 a.m.
Arsenal definitions from the web 1. military storehouse or factory 1. a military establishment for producing and storing weapons and munitions. 2. A stock of weapons. I do not believe he lived in a military storehouse or a factory but I haven't seen his house. I also would not consider 3 weapons to exactly be a stock of weapons anymore than owning 3 cars would make me Ford Motor company
EyeHeartA2
Sat, Aug 17, 2013 : 2:44 a.m.
GAWD, I never thought I would take the side of the hot dog vender. Surprised to see he had an "arenal". WOW. Find any tinfoil hats too? Seriously? Give Me A Break
EyeHeartA2
Sat, Aug 17, 2013 : 2:45 a.m.
arsenal. arsenal where is the spill chucker when I need one?
huh7891
Sat, Aug 17, 2013 : 1:32 a.m.
Arsenal : a collection of weapons stored. (relax people ...three guns in a collection meets the definition and adds to the drama).
jjc155
Fri, Aug 16, 2013 : 11:48 p.m.
How about: hey great job Wcsd and Ypd for working together to make the areests and recover the property just minutes after the crime occurred. Instead of arguing about the proper storeage of firearms, what constitutes an arsenal and the semantics of burglary vs home invasion. Lol.
Mike
Sat, Aug 17, 2013 : 8:55 p.m.
Loopy - don't put words in gun owners mouths, we fully support the police. We just believe the constitution takes a beating every time articles with words like "arsenal" in them are written by those afraid of guns........
Stan Hyne
Sat, Aug 17, 2013 : 3:06 p.m.
Good post !!!!!!!
Loopy
Sat, Aug 17, 2013 : 2:18 a.m.
THANK YOU jjc155. I was about to say the same thing. About the only thing worse than gun owners whining about their specs and terminology is pit bull owners arguing about dog safety. Both types pollute every news story and never take the time to thank the cops (and neighbors) who helped prevent or solve the crime.
jdmb03
Sat, Aug 17, 2013 : 12:51 a.m.
Cheers to the great men and women who protect Ypsi and Ypsi Township.
dfossil
Fri, Aug 16, 2013 : 11:41 p.m.
They may have been "Brazen". but more likely dumb going in daylight and getting caught in minutes! Walking down the street with rifles is more stupid then bold.
K32
Fri, Aug 16, 2013 : 11:35 p.m.
Wow, 3 guns a "small arsenal"? Is this what they refer to as media hype, or what?
arborani
Sun, Aug 18, 2013 : 4:20 p.m.
At least they're all bigger than a breadbox.
Basic Bob
Sat, Aug 17, 2013 : 9:17 a.m.
I thought an arsenal was larger than a cache, which is more than a trunkload.
DJBudSonic
Fri, Aug 16, 2013 : 11:01 p.m.
Firearms should be stored as securely as possible, locking your house is not enough. We don't need to go as far as they do in California and criminalize improper storage, but the concern is not without merit. No doubt many guns that fall into the hands of criminals are stolen from insecure storage. You don't see many headlines that say "Two teens apprehended lugging 500lb locked gun safe down street."
cinnabar7071
Sat, Aug 17, 2013 : 2 p.m.
A2 maybe the gov't can regulate other items too. Like kitchen knives, think of the lives that could be saved.
A2comments
Sat, Aug 17, 2013 : 11:08 a.m.
I disagree. We should criminalize improper storage.
Usual Suspect
Fri, Aug 16, 2013 : 10:35 p.m.
And to think all these years that I've been visiting the in-laws' place up north there has been an arsenal in the closet. What's worse is I've been allowing my family to sleep in the same house as that arsenal. I feel like such a horrible parent now.
Jaime Magiera
Sun, Aug 18, 2013 : 1:07 a.m.
Golf courses were designed for... golf. Remember that conversation we had about design? Any analogies with guns are pointless.
Usual Suspect
Sat, Aug 17, 2013 : 1:44 p.m.
Statistics might show that more people are hit by lightning on golf courses, but that doesn't mean I should develop an irrational fear of golf courses. I can take precautions to make sure I'm not hit by lightning whether or not I'm on a golf course.
Jaime Magiera
Sat, Aug 17, 2013 : 12:42 p.m.
If the holster fits.
snark12
Sat, Aug 17, 2013 : 11:35 a.m.
You probably should be worried since a gun in the home is statistically more likely to be used against one of the occupants than an intruder.
matt1027
Fri, Aug 16, 2013 : 9:38 p.m.
Oh good....release the trash to their parents...they're obviously doing a great job. Trash makes trash. Too bad he wasn't home so he could've used one of those guns under the Castle doctrine and saved our society a lot of trouble and money. PC squad, don't fool yourself into thinking this is the last we'll hear of this garbage in the police beat.
Jaime Magiera
Sat, Aug 17, 2013 : 12:40 p.m.
John, that happened to me as well a few threads up. I literally had just quoted the words mat1027 wrote, nothing else. It's not the first that that has happened either. Someone who works for the company that's contracted to moderate comments off-hours is operating on personal whim or with an agenda.
Basic Bob
Sat, Aug 17, 2013 : 9:16 a.m.
OK, we understand you think that the perps are useless trash and garbage. Now quit throwing stones and suggesting that they should be summarily executed.
John
Sat, Aug 17, 2013 : 1:37 a.m.
I like how a poster can make comment after comment calling for blood from other human beings in something like 4 separate posts on the same article, but when someone points out how redundant and unnecessarily callous it is, that's what gets deleted. Nice comment policy A2.com. Nice.
matt1027
Fri, Aug 16, 2013 : 11:15 p.m.
I want to live in a world where stupid garbage isn't making everything worse for everyone else... if that happens by someone who has it coming getting shot or thrown in jail that works for me. They can jump off a bridge for all I care, doesn't matter how it gets done.
Thomas
Fri, Aug 16, 2013 : 9:34 p.m.
And this is the reason I left Ypsilanti, it's getting as bad as Detroit.
PattyinYpsi
Sat, Aug 17, 2013 : 1:37 p.m.
If you had ever lived in Ypsilanti, you would know the difference between Ypsi and Ypsilanti Township, where this crime took place. But I'm sure that there's no crime whatsoever wherever you live now.
jcj
Fri, Aug 16, 2013 : 9:17 p.m.
Too bad we can't discuss the writing of a story in section for comments about THE story!
jcj
Fri, Aug 16, 2013 : 9:16 p.m.
Guess the new buzzword is sidetracked. Ha
a2citizen
Fri, Aug 16, 2013 : 8:21 p.m.
On the positive side the headline avoids the "man vs teenager" debate.
justcurious
Fri, Aug 16, 2013 : 7:28 p.m.
Something about publishing this victim's name doesn't set right with me. Too much information given about him and his belongings.
jdmb03
Sat, Aug 17, 2013 : 12:46 a.m.
I too think that it is odd, but I know Mr. Riney and he does like to be in the news.
cinnabar7071
Sat, Aug 17, 2013 : 12:26 a.m.
Cindy that doesn't surprise me.
Cindy Heflin
Fri, Aug 16, 2013 : 8:40 p.m.
Mr. Riney called us about this story and spoke to us voluntarily on the record for this story. That's why we used his name.
jcj
Fri, Aug 16, 2013 : 8:31 p.m.
That struck me as strange also.
Towanda
Fri, Aug 16, 2013 : 7:16 p.m.
Why does the Ann Arbor News keep referring to burglaries as home invasions? Burglaries occur (usually) when no one is home or the occupants are sleeping, and the thieves are only interested in stuff. Home invasions are when assailants break into a home with the intention of harming the occupants.
matt1027
Fri, Aug 16, 2013 : 9:40 p.m.
I'm sure this trash wouldve relished a chance to kick somebody around as entertainment.
Kyle Feldscher
Fri, Aug 16, 2013 : 7:21 p.m.
Towanda - We've discussed this many times. In Michigan, home invasion also covers break-ins where no one is home and items are stolen or a crime is committed. Here's the link to the statute. http://www.legislature.mi.gov/(S(0pcbdo2wiom0qn553xqi1045))/mileg.aspx?page=GetObject&objectname=mcl-750-110a
Pam
Fri, Aug 16, 2013 : 6:04 p.m.
i'm impressed teenagers are up and at'em so early....
Jay Thomas
Sat, Aug 17, 2013 : 3:22 p.m.
Don't be. It seems like a favorite time for this crime. I recall seeing similar youths running from a neighbor's back yard at 6 AM.
dading dont delete me bro
Fri, Aug 16, 2013 : 5:40 p.m.
"...people were his home. " huh?
Hugh Giariola
Sat, Aug 17, 2013 : 12:33 p.m.
@dading, they were too caught up on debating whether the words "small arsenal" would generate additional hits.
Kyle Feldscher
Fri, Aug 16, 2013 : 6:25 p.m.
It takes a moment to update.
dading dont delete me bro
Fri, Aug 16, 2013 : 6:04 p.m.
nope, still like that in the 4th paragraph
Pam
Fri, Aug 16, 2013 : 6:03 p.m.
A2 news has always given me hypertension when it comes to grammatical errors....
Kyle Feldscher
Fri, Aug 16, 2013 : 6:01 p.m.
Sorry, there was a missing word there. I've fixed that.
Linda Peck
Fri, Aug 16, 2013 : 5:38 p.m.
Good news on this one, too. I am so grateful for the police protection and would like our police and sheriff's departments to have more officers.
Here
Fri, Aug 16, 2013 : 5:33 p.m.
3 guns and a jar of change = "small arsenal"?
Mike
Fri, Aug 16, 2013 : 7:50 p.m.
If it's three more than you have an you are against guns you would call it an arsenal..........well chosen words can have a much larger impact
Ross
Fri, Aug 16, 2013 : 6:27 p.m.
Yep.
Solitude
Fri, Aug 16, 2013 : 5:32 p.m.
A "small arsenal of weapons"? Three guns is now a small arsenal?
a2citizen
Tue, Aug 20, 2013 : 7:02 a.m.
Bill, then say "small game " rifle. I actually think the term "bird rifle" undermines the rights of responsible gun owners. It's on the opposite end of the spectrum as "arsenal".
Usual Suspect
Sat, Aug 17, 2013 : 3:37 p.m.
a2citizen, does it really matter? You'd want to grab it regardless of his answer.
bill s
Sat, Aug 17, 2013 : 12:36 p.m.
A2citizen A "bird rifle" is small game hunting rifle; mine is a 1933 Winchester Model 67 Short.
a2citizen
Fri, Aug 16, 2013 : 10:14 p.m.
Bill, Where and what kind of birds do you hunt with a rifle?
bill s
Fri, Aug 16, 2013 : 8:48 p.m.
Thats right AA.com. Nothing wrong with using inflammatory trigger words like "arsenal" to describe a hunter with two Remington's and a .22 bird rifle.
Kyle Mattson
Fri, Aug 16, 2013 : 6:39 p.m.
Let's not get sidetracked by a debate over a single term here. If you have specific feedback regarding the use of a term or reporting in general here in the site please email your thoughts to our Editor, Paula Gardner at paulagardner@annarbor.com for consideration. Thank you.
Ross
Fri, Aug 16, 2013 : 6:27 p.m.
Gotta agree with Kyle. 3 is enough to warrant such a description.
Usual Suspect
Fri, Aug 16, 2013 : 6:23 p.m.
Kyle, I didn't know it could be piled that high without it tipping over.
Kyle Feldscher
Fri, Aug 16, 2013 : 6:18 p.m.
The definition of "arsenal" is "a collection of weapons." I believe that three firearms is a small collection of weapons, and the term accurately represents the facts in this story.
zigziggityzoo
Fri, Aug 16, 2013 : 5:50 p.m.
One is a "small arsenal" too. Anything to hype up the story a bit more. That's the press for you these days.
SemperFi
Fri, Aug 16, 2013 : 5:09 p.m.
Lock up your firearms!
matt1027
Sun, Aug 18, 2013 : 2:44 p.m.
@ the wimps. I laugh at the idea that they should be disassembled and scattered throughout the house because its the home owner's fault that some criminal (and obviously they aren't even good at that) youths broke into his house. I have a gun loaded by my bed, reason being if one of these idiots breaks into my house we won't be worrying about getting stabbed while I look for bullets. They'll leave toes first.
Usual Suspect
Sat, Aug 17, 2013 : 1:45 p.m.
"Ideally, they would be locked up within a safe or cabinet within the home as well, unloaded." Ideally, sure, for Progressives, those with irrational fears, and those who despise guns and the people who own them.
Jaime Magiera
Sat, Aug 17, 2013 : 3:36 a.m.
I would call them people engaged in criminal activity - key word being "people". Bleed for you? No.
EyeHeartA2
Sat, Aug 17, 2013 : 2:41 a.m.
@Jaime; seems appropriate for criminals. What would you call them? Upstanding citizens? Good kid who made a bad choice? Bleed for me.
Jaime Magiera
Sat, Aug 17, 2013 : 2:34 a.m.
You call people "degenerate garbage"
matt1027
Fri, Aug 16, 2013 : 11:17 p.m.
Good point EyeHeartA2. This crowd of wimps seems to enjoy blaming the victim instead of the degenerate garbage committing the crimes.
EyeHeartA2
Fri, Aug 16, 2013 : 9:52 p.m.
And using the same reasoning, women need to wear chastity belts if they don't want to get raped?
matt1027
Fri, Aug 16, 2013 : 9:41 p.m.
Too bad they weren't home to use em on this trash. Now we get to fund their first (but not only) stay in jail.
Jaime Magiera
Fri, Aug 16, 2013 : 8:16 p.m.
Ideally, they would be locked up within a safe or cabinet within the home as well, unloaded. This would likely prevent the weapons from being stolen during a simple home invasion and also deter heat-of-the-moment use.
John
Fri, Aug 16, 2013 : 7:14 p.m.
Yeah, I'm actually going to side with these two here (*gasp!). Locking your guns in the house is a minimally acceptable level of security in my book. Ideally they'd be someplace not immediately visible/detectable. Probably shouldn't set them on the ottoman next to the bay window or anything like that, but inside a locked house is fine enough. Inside a gun safe/cabinet is even better, obviously, and should be a no-brainer if you have kids, but otherwise put 'em where you want inside. It's your house.
Usual Suspect
Fri, Aug 16, 2013 : 6:22 p.m.
If they were in the house, and the house was locked, then they were locked up.
Solitude
Fri, Aug 16, 2013 : 5:30 p.m.
They were locked up. They were locked up in his house. Lowlife miscreants broke in and stole them.
John
Fri, Aug 16, 2013 : 4:49 p.m.
Glad this had a happy ending for the victim. Hopefully the source of the rash of break-ins has now been identified and dealt with.
Cory C
Fri, Aug 16, 2013 : 4:32 p.m.
Know your neighbors!