40 Guns Taken In Garden Grove Smash-And-Grab Burglary

Police are seeking suspects wanted in connection with the smash-and-grab theft of 40 firearms from a Garden Grove gun store overnight Thursday.

At 12:16 a.m., Garden Grove police officers responded to Whitten Sales, located at 12821 Valley View St., to investigate a report of a commercial burglary. The owner of the business reported witnessing a suspect within the business after hours on a live surveillance feed.

Responding officers reportedly found the front door of the business smashed in. Further investigation revealed that an estimated 40 firearms were taken from a safe within the store during the incident, according to Garden Grove PD.

“The suspects fled the scene in two separate vehicles prior to police arrival,” read a release from Garden Grove PD. “The vehicles were described as a blue BMW and a silver BMW.”

The suspects are described by police as “unknown males wearing face masks.”

The recent regional cases of smash-and-grab burglaries has led to local law enforcement surging patrols in response.

But the hard data needed to determine whether or not it's part of a larger overall retail crime trend has been lacking, according to UC Irvine Professor Charis Kubrin.

“Certainly the media gives the appearance that it is skyrocketing and on the rise, but in terms of what the numbers say, hard to determine,” Kubrin said on AirTalk, our newsroom’s current affairs show.

Detectives have surveillance footage of the incident and are following up on the incident as of Thursday afternoon, according to GGPD Lt. Mario Martinez. Video and photos of the burglary are not being released by the department at this time.