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player ready...The lesson from a weekend burglary of a small arsenal of handguns from the Ace Hardware store in Gurnee appears to fit the timeless truism: Never put off until tomorrow what you can do today.
After the store at 4806 Grand Ave., Gurnee, was burglarized last September, the proprietors decided to install a new motion sensor burglar alarm as part of a store remodeling. That alarm system was to be installed Monday, said Richard Hill, personnel manager for the Grand Avenue store and five other Lake County Ace stores.
Unfortunately, Monday wasn’t soon enough. Sometime over the weekend, there was a second burglary at the store in which more than two dozen handguns were stolen.
Either late Saturday or early Sunday, someone knocked a hole in the cinder block wall on the east side of the building, according to Gurnee Police Deputy Chief Henry Schwarz.
The burglar or burglars broke into a locked gun case and stole 26 handguns, both revolvers and semiautomatic weapons, valued at $11,000, police said. Ammunition valued at $22 was also stolen, Schwarz said.
In September, 16 handguns and some ammunition were stolen, police said. At the time of that burglary, police said that the store owners were planning to install the motion sensors, which would have alerted police to the burglary.
Gurnee investigators are working with the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, which was notified of the break-in. Special Agent Jerry Singer said that most stolen handguns are sold on the street within 24 hours of the theft.