HELENA-WEST HELENA, Ark. — At least 30 guns, including assault rifles, are on the streets after they were stolen from a former police chief’s home.
WREG learned the possible thieves could be gang members.
Neighbors said this type of crime is unusual on their street.
Khadija Cheatum was home when someone broke into her neighbor’s house Monday night in the 100 block of Terry Street and stole the guns.
Some neighbors told investigators they saw several males at the home.
“My dogs were barking towards the hill, and it was a whole bunch of shuffling going on down the hill, but I didn’t get to see a person’s face or nothing. I thought it was the dogs but apparently it was a person,” she said.
Cheatum didn’t call the police then, but the next morning a detective noticed the back window was broken out and the house was ransacked.
The homeowner told officers someone broke into the safe where the guns were stored.
Ernest Simpson moved to the neighborhood 40 years ago and is afraid the guns will get into the wrong hands.
“These people need to be taken off the streets because it makes you a hostage in your own home when you got those kind of guns out,” he said.
Police said the house belonged to a former Helena-West Helena police chief who was a gun collector.
The chief died about four years ago, and a relative of his currently lives in the house.
Police said they’re also concerned about the types of guns stolen from the home and that’s why they need your help solving this crime.
“Whether it’s rifles, assault rifles, 9-mm handguns, 40-caliber handguns” said Chief Virgil Green.
Neighbors said it’s scary knowing people who got a hold of the guns could be gang members.
“I had too many people who ended up dying in Helena that was related to me by people with guns and they were shooting just because they had it,” Cheatum said.
Green said no one called to report the suspicious activity at the home.
The crime didn’t stop there in Helena-West Helena.
Just over the past weekend, police said a man set a car on fire after placing a can of gasoline inside.
The vehicle was near a home on Cedar Street where five people, including three children.
Police said the suspect wanted something that was inside the house. No one was hurt. He was arrested.
Also, a 16-year-old was arrested for having a gun.
Police said they found out after he claimed he was shot and he was faking because the gun accidentally went off.
There was a carjacking on Lincoln Court where a man was held at gunpoint as two suspects stole a car.
Investigators eventually found it charred, apparently set on fire. No arrests have been made in that case.
The Helena-West Helena Police Department urges anyone with information regarding this investigation to contact the criminal investigation division at (870) 572-3441