11 rifles, including 3 stolen after the Aberdeen musuem fire, recovered in East Aberdeen

October 26, 2018 7:00 pm
COURTESY PHOTO Eleven rifles, including 3 stolen after the Aberdeen museum fire in June, were recovered by Aberdeen Police and the Grays Harbor County Sheriff’s Office in East Aberdeen Thursday morning.
COURTESY PHOTO Eleven rifles, including 3 stolen after the Aberdeen museum fire in June, were recovered by Aberdeen Police and the Grays Harbor County Sheriff’s Office in East Aberdeen Thursday morning.

Three firearms stolen from the burned-out Aberdeen Museum of History were recovered and six people were arrested Thursday morning after a search warrant was served at a residence in the 1000 block of East Market Street.

According to a statement from Aberdeen Police Lt. C.J. Chastain, the Grays Harbor County Sheriff’s Office had been investigating an unrelated burglary and were able to secure a search warrant for the east Aberdeen residence. A team of officers from the Sheriff’s Office, Aberdeen Police and the Grays Harbor County Drug Task Force entered the residence about 9 a.m. and discovered 11 firearms. Three of those firearms have been confirmed to be stolen rifles from the Armory Building, according to Chastain.

“At this time, a stolen antique Asian manufactured pistol and three rifles are still outstanding,” said Chastain. Anyone with information on these firearms is encouraged to contact Aberdeen Police Detective Jason Perkinson at 360-538-4424.

The 56-year-old Aberdeen resident was arrested at the scene for unlawful possession of firearms and booked into the Grays Harbor County Jail. Another 55-year-old Aberdeen man was arrested on an outstanding Aberdeen Municipal Court warrant and booked into the Aberdeen jail. Three females — a 33-year-old and 45-year-old from Aberdeen, and a 26-year-old from Ocean Shores — were also arrested on outstanding Aberdeen Municipal Court warrants and booked into the Aberdeen jail. A 53-year-old Aberdeen woman was arrested on a Department of Corrections warrant, and she was booked into the Hoquiam jail, said Chastain.

Chaistain said on Sept. 17, more than three months after the armory fire, an employee discovered a plywood panel on the east end of the building had been pulled away. On Oct. 8, the archival crew was able to enter the building and begin its recovery process. That crew was unable to locate seven antique firearms that had been secured in a locked box in an office in the building. The burglary of the stolen firearms was reported to the Aberdeen Police Department on Oct. 10.