Indictment: Kansas Couple Crashed Car into Cabela’s to Steal Guns

U.S. Attorney’s Office, District of Kansas
14 February 2019

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

KANSAS CITY, KAN. – A man and a woman from Kansas were indicted Wednesday on federal charges of crashing a car into a Cabela’s store and stealing guns, U.S. Attorney Stephen McAllister said.

Kyle Mendez, 29, Kansas City, Kan., and Brenda Tosh, 27, Kansas City, Kan., were charged with one count of conspiring to steal guns from a federally licensed firearms dealer. In addition, Mendez was charged with two counts of unlawful possession of firearms by a convicted felon and one count of transporting a stolen 2014 Dodge Challenger across state lines. The crimes are alleged to have occurred Nov. 6, 2018, in Kansas City, Kan.

The indictment alleges the defendants entered the Cabela’s store in Kansas City, Kan., by crashing a car through an exterior door. Mendez smashed through a locked door to get into the store’s Gun Library. The defendants took long guns from the firearms section of the store and placed them into a shopping cart. The guns included two 12-gauge shotguns, a .22-caliber rifle, a .308-caliber rifle and a .223-caliber rifle.

Before the defendants could get away with the guns, however, law enforcement officers arrived at the store. Tosh was arrested at the scene. Mendez fled from the store and was arrested later.

Upon conviction, the crimes carry the following penalties:

Unlawful possession of firearms by a felon (count one and count two): Up to 10 years in federal prison and a fine up to $250,000.

Theft from a federally licensed firearms dealer (count three): Up to five years and a fine up to $250,000.

Transporting a stolen car (count four): Up to 10 years and a fine up to $250,000.

The Kansas City, Kan., Police Department and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives investigated. Assistant U.S. Attorney Chris Oakley is prosecuting.