BENTON HARBOR, Mich. — Two southwest Michigan brothers are facing federal charges for how they acquired two large blue Yeti coolers last Friday.
Inside those coolers, federal investigators found more than 120 stolen firearms. Investigators believe the men kidnapped the store manager at his home and held a gun to his head to get the security code.
According to a criminal complaint filed Monday in the Western District of Michigan, Darnell Bishop and Dontrell Nance are both facing Hobbs Act Robbery, Brandishing a Firearm During and in Relation to a Crime of Violence, Theft of Firearms from a Federally Licensee and Knowingly possessing stolen firearms.
U.S. Attorney Mark Totten will prosecute the case against Bishop, 33, and his brother 25-year-old Nance.
"It is no secret that we are experiencing an epidemic of gun violence across the nation, across the state of Michigan, and right here in Benton Harbor as well," said Totten. "Fueling this epidemic is a massive influx of illegal guns into our communities. What happened at Dunham sports on the evening of November 16, is a striking example of what is driving this crisis, and we fully intend to satisfy our burden and prove this case."
Around 2 a.m. on Nov. 17, the Dunham's Sports store manager in Benton Harbor called police and said just before 9 p.m. on Nov. 16 two men approached him outside his home, held him at gunpoint, blindfolded him, handcuffed him and then put him in the back seat of his own car.
The manager said the two assailants drove him to an unknown area, where one of the men started interrogating the manager about the store's security systems.
One of the men then held a gun to his head and made him reveal the passcode to the store's alarm, the criminal complaint details. That's when the other suspect grabbed the store keys and left.
Surveillance video shows a suspect arrive at the Dunham's and disable the code around 10:40 p.m. on Nov. 16.
The man walked through the store, grabbed a pair of sunglasses, and took two large blue Yeti coolers with handles and wheels.
He made his way to the firearms section of the store and loaded up the coolers full of handguns.
Taking two trips, the man brought both loaded coolers to a car.
An ATF audit found the store was missing 123 handguns.
"You've got [more than] 100 guns that were headed to the streets of Grand Rapids, to the streets of Detroit, Lansing, Benton Harbor, across the state...that is amazing if you think about just where these guns are headed and the damage that they could potentially do in our communities," said Jim Deir, Special Agent in Charge for ATF Michigan.
During the kidnapping, the manager told investigators one of the suspects tried to use CashApp to send themselves money from the manager's debit card.
That transaction is how investigators linked the suspects to the crime.
Through bank records, federal authorities found the name "Dontrell Nanc," and the account's photo matched Dontrell Nance.
"This allowed law enforcement to begin surveillance of Nance at his place of residence. Investigators observed Nance with another male who they identified as Darnell Bishop, Nance's brother," said Totten as investigators identified Bishop on Friday, November 17.
Nance was on parole at the time of the crime in Berrien County. He was previously convicted of felony unarmed robbery in 2016.
The two men, along with another unnamed man, opened up the trunk of a red Dodge Durango revealing two coolers in the back. The tags were still on them, and the men carried the coolers into the apartment.
Later that afternoon, two of the men came back outside with one of the coolers back into the Durango and left in another car.
Law enforcement stopped the car before it could leave the apartment complex, taking Nance into custody for absconding parole.
About 15 minutes later, investigators saw Bishop walking out the back door with a white bag. Inside that bag was an assortment of Dunham's firearm sales tags, police said.
After securing a search warrant for the apartment and the vehicles, police found one cooler in the Durango full of handguns. They found a second cooler inside the apartment also with handguns.
Many of those handguns had trigger guard security locks still attached to them.
After comparing the serial numbers, investigators confirmed these were the stolen weapons.
Both men admitted they took part in the robbery.
Nance allegedly told authorities he stayed with the manager in the car while his brother Bishop went to Dunham's to steal the guns.
Nance also told investigators he put his cellphone in a sock and held that against the blindfolded manager's head, implying it was a gun.
Special Agent Deir described that the stolen guns were altogether worth over $100,000 and warned that the ATF is working with local law enforcement to keep illegally obtained guns off the streets.
"So anybody in the community that has the temptation to target and victimize anybody who is a law-abiding person engaged in the sale of firearms, this is the consequence of your actions. This will occur every time you do it," said Deir as he gestured to the over 100 guns laid out in front of law enforcement.
Deir encourages community members who learn of similar events being planned to notify their local ATF office, MSP, or local police.
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