Two men face charges in gun thefts from Cedar Rapids and Hiawatha dealers

CEDAR RAPIDS - Two men have been charged in state and federal court with stealing long guns and handguns from two firearms dealers in Hiawatha and Cedar Rapids.

John Gillespie Jr., 18, was charged Monday in U.S. District Court with theft of firearms from a licensed dealer. Jeremy Reynolds, 18, of Hiawatha, was charged Saturday in Linn County District Court with third-degree burglary.

Gillespie was scheduled to have a detention and preliminary hearing Wednesday in U.S. District Court. But his attorney was recently appointed and asked that the hearing be reset to give him time to review the evidence and prospects for pretrial release. Gillespie remains in jail.

Reynolds had his initial court appearance Saturday and remains in the Linn County Jail on a $10,000 cash-only bail.

An affidavit of the federal criminal complaint shows Hiawatha police responded to a break-in about 12:49 a.m. Friday at Midwest Shooting, 1490 Ketelsen Dr., and stopped a silver GMC Yukon leaving the area. A man and woman in the vehicle were questioned. The woman, according to the affidavit, said they had picked up two men earlier in Cedar Rapids and dropped them off at Midwest Shooting.

Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives Special Agent Timothy Hunt said in the affidavit that as officers were talking with the woman, they saw Reynolds, who she later identified, 'acting suspiciously” as he came out of CCB Packaging across from Midwest Shooting.

Reynolds, who was muddy and wet, told officers he was there filling out an application. He also said Gillespie had dropped him off there and was picking him up.

Hunt said during the investigation at Midwest Shooting, police found the store had been burglarized and multiple firearms were missing.

Officers then found a backpack with gloves, a sweatshirt and several handguns in the field by the store. They also found several long guns in the field. All the guns recovered were from Midwest and Reynolds was arrested, the criminal complaint shows.

Hunt said surveillance video from Midwest Shooting showed two men matching the suspects' descriptions with bags filled with guns.

Gillespie, who is on probation from a previous forgery conviction, was arrested during a traffic stop on J Street SW later that day, Hunt said in the affidavit. Several others in the car with him told police a duffle bag in the car belonged to Gillespie. The duffle bag contained 10 guns from Midwest.

The affidavit shows officers also found a firearm in the patrol car where Gillespie was seated after his arrest. Later, they found out the firearm had been stolen during a June 3 burglary at America's 2nd Amendment Firearms in Cedar Rapids. Both Reynolds and Gillespie matched the suspects shown in another surveillance video from this store, according to the affidavit.

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