Woman, 43, charged with stealing guns from uncle

A woman has been charged with stealing thousands of dollars worth of guns from her uncle’s gun safe and pawning them at a local store ‘ where even a sheriff’s deputy unknowingly bought one of the stolen weapons.

The suspect, Robin Hale, 43, was able to get away with the crime for almost two years, as the theft happened in 2005. She was caught only recently when her uncle realized the guns were missing.

‘He went to show somebody his collection and opened his safe and they were gone,’ said Sheriff’s Investigator Captain Tommy Myers, noting there were eight long guns missing with an estimated total worth of $3,700. ‘She had taken the key to the safe from inside and stolen the guns, then she placed the key back where it was kept so the victim didn’t realize what had happened.’

Hale reportedly took the guns from her uncle’s Capshaw Road home to a local pawn shop and pawned them, signing the pawn receipt to link her to the crime. There were also power tools taken and pawned as part of the theft.

As for the pawned weapons, lawmen are busy trying to track the whereabouts of all the guns since some have changed hands from the persons who purchased them from the pawn shop.

‘The people who bought the guns will be left holding the bag unless they can recover the money from the person who stole the weapons,’ said Myers, noting the people who legally purchased the weapons from the pawn shop not knowing they were stolen must still surrender the guns to their rightful owner.

In addition to theft charges rising from the gun heist, Hale is also facing more theft counts for allegedly stealing checks from the same uncle and forging them.