Richard D. Brown III, 28, of Hamilton, Indiana, and Tiegan J. Gallant, 18, of Montpelier were recently taken into custody after police were called to an Angola auto parts store regarding a theft. Police, noticing a strong smell of marijuana emulating from the vehicle, did a probable cause search and reportedly found two loaded handguns in the console.
A more thorough search resulted in police finding and an additional 13 guns, marijuana, methadone pills, a substantial amount of loose ammunition, and various types of drug paraphernalia. Police also recovered a cell phone, camera, two light bulbs reported stolen by the auto parts store, and a small dog.
The dog was turned over to the Community Humane Shelter of Steuben County at the time the couple were placed into custody and housed in the Steuben County jail. The guns found traced back to a 2017 theft of 140 funs, stolen a few at a time over a period of two months, reported by a gun collector in Edon. That theft remains under investigation.