Andrew Davis and Loren Genson | The Gazette
Mason Farnsworth
Brandon Flemming
Two Medina men have been arrested in connection with the theft of 18 handguns from a Medina gun shop after Brunswick and Strongsville police reported finding a Medina teenager in possession of one of the weapons early Saturday morning.
Brandon T. Flemming, 19, of the 200 block of W. North St., and Mason S. Farnsworth, 21, of the 500 block of Miller Drive, were arrested by Medina police Saturday and charged with receiving stolen property, a fourth-degree felony.
Medina police Sgt. Brett McNabb said warrants for Flemming and Farnsworth were obtained after police questioned a 17-year-old boy who is suspected of participating in the break-in of DC Guns, 218 N. Court St., on Thursday night.
The 17-year-old was found with a Taurus Raging Bull .44-caliber revolver identified as one of the stolen weapons.
“The serial number matched, and make and model matched,” McNabb said.
Flemming and Farnsworth were arrested Saturday morning after police served warrants at a home in Medina where the two men were staying the night.
McNabb said police did not find any reported stolen weapons in the home, but “follow-up information suggests that most of the guns have been sold to other people.”
Flemming and Farnsworth were taken to the Medina County Jail. They are scheduled for an initial hearing in Medina Municipal Court this morning.
The boy has not been charged by Medina police and remains in the custody of authorities in Cuyahoga County.
Police suspect Flemming and Farnsworth received a number of the weapons after the boy and at least one other person used a rock to smash the front window of the gun shop and steal 18 handguns.
The .44-caliber revolver is the only weapon that has been recovered. The handguns — 15 semi-automatic pistols and three revolvers — were valued at more than $8,700 according to Gunbroker.com.
The juvenile was arrested with the revolver following a foot chase with officers from the Strongsville and Brunswick police departments.
Strongsville police said they responded to a report about 12:30 a.m. Saturday of someone attempting to steal a car in a driveway on Saratoga Trail. The home is just a few houses north of Boston Road, the boundary between Strongsville and Brunswick. The vehicle’s owners reported a laptop and car keys stolen from the car earlier in the day, and they believed the thief had returned to steal the car.
Strongsville police chased the suspect as he fled northwest, but lost him. He later was found between houses on South Red Oak Drive. Officers arrested the juvenile and reported finding a .44-caliber handgun in his possession.
Brunswick police become involved after suspecting the juvenile may have been the person who was reported earlier that night entering two vehicles in a driveway in the 3700 block of Boston Road.
Shortly after arriving at the home on Boston Road, Brunswick officers were met by a 16-year-old Brunswick girl who identified the 17-year-old in custody as her boyfriend. The girl told police she had been sleeping at her home on Claremont Drive behind the 3700 block of Boston Road and came outside because she heard her boyfriend was being chased by police.
Brunswick and Strongsville officers searched the girl’s home in Brunswick and found .44-caliber ammunition.
Police also seized a cellphone from the girl after determining it belonged to the 17-year-old boy. Strongsville officers obtained a warrant to search the contents on the phone, according to reports.
Brunswick police said the girl and her parents were cooperating with Strongsville police in the investigation.
McNabb said the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms is assisting with the investigation.
Contact reporter Andrew Davis at (330) 721-4050 or adavis@medina-gazette.com. Contact reporter Loren Genson at (330) 721-4063 or lgenson@medina-gazette.com. Follow her on Twitter @lorengenson.
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