PITTSBURGH — Charges have just been filed in connection to a string of gun thefts, most of which happened across the Pittsburgh area.
Channel 11 has been following the crime spree for more than a year, and this week, eight teenagers were arrested.
Allegheny County Police said in January 2025, the group of teenagers targeted four separate gun stores in Pennsylvania and Ohio, getting away with 79 guns.
“We don’t want any illegal guns on the streets, let alone in the hands of teenagers,” said Christopher Kearns, Allegheny County Police superintendent.
During a joint press conference with the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Office and ATF agents, police said these were smash-and-grab style burglaries and attempted break-ins that happened at several stores: Greater Pittsburgh Quick Cash in Duquesne, Legion Arms in West Mifflin, and Allegheny Arms and Gun Works in Bethel Park. Police say this same group stole guns from a Federal Firearms Licensee in Ohio.
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“This isn’t just a haphazard incident, that these are planned, considered, and coordinated efforts,” said Christopher Decker, Deputy Attorney General.
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“We have charged these individuals as part of a corrupt organization that knowingly and intentionally targeted these businesses, and as a result, some of the individuals are now facing well over 200 counts of various charges,” said Todd Dolfi, Allegheny County Police Inspector.
Police said 1,400 charges have been filed in connection with the year-long investigation. While 55 of the stolen guns were recovered, others were not and are connected to several recent violent crimes and incidents.
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“Some of those crimes include a young man who was shot and injured on the South Side section of the City of Pittsburgh, back in May. There was a shooting – multiple rounds fired into a house full of people in McKees Rocks in March,” said Victor Joseph, Allegheny County Police assistant superintendent. “Most tragically, the shooting death of 7-year-old Kruz Bailey-Baker, a first grader at Manchester PreK-8.”
While seven of the teenagers were between 14 and 17 years old at the time of these crimes, according to the investigation, Chalais Ramey, 19, has been charged as an adult. He has a long criminal history, one that includes robbery and carjacking charges from 2022, other gun charges from last year, and even a run-in with police when he was just 6 years old.
Back in 2013, Channel 11 reported Ramey grabbed an officer’s gun and tried to remove it from his holster after allegedly trying to steal a bike.
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On Wednesday, police executed a search warrant at Ramey’s home Wednesday and found a gun and ammunition. He’s in the Allegheny County Jail.
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