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AP Photo/Collingdale Police Dept.
According to police, an 11-year-old boy joined four teens in a late-night gun shop heist that netted 15 firearms.
By MARYCLAIRE DALE
Associated Press Writer
PHILADELPHIA --
An 11-year-old boy joined four teens in a late-night gun shop heist that netted 15 firearms - then boarded a city bus for the trip home, police said.
A passer-by alerted authorities to the burglary late Monday at the Suburban Armory store in Collingdale, a Philadelphia suburb, police said. Two teen suspects were arrested at a pizza parlor and two others leaving a nearby bus stop. Officers shut down traffic in the area and found the 11-year-old Philadelphia boy on board a bus.
A security camera caught the boy in action, Collingdale Police Chief Robert Adams said Wednesday.
"We can see the youngest one, the 11-year-old, at the gun store taking guns," Adams said. "It's amazing that an 11-year-old kid would think of being involved in something like that."
The suspects may have been foiled by the lack of a getaway car.
"You come to do a burglary on a bus, you do the burglary, you take your guns and get back on the bus and go home?" Adams asked.
The boy's mother told police she thought her son was home in bed. It was unclear how the boy knew the others, who were between the ages of 15 and 19, Adams said.
Police believe the robbery was well-planned. The thieves cut the store's phone lines and may have tripped the alarm in recent weeks to test the police response, Adams said.
Police found the cache of weapons - 14 semiautomatic handguns, a revolver and 250 rounds of ammunition - abandoned near the bus stop.
Based on the number stolen, officials believe the group planned to resell them, and said the weapons would fetch $200 to $500 each on the street.
The adult suspects, Leroy Taylor, 19, and Khalik Keyser, 18, remained in custody Wednesday on $200,000 bail. The 11-year-old and the other two suspects, ages 15 and 16, were due in juvenile court.
Police said the five do not have attorneys.
