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Gloucester motel guest finds stolen gun between mattress and box spring, then calls police

Posted at 4:26 PM, Jun 26, 2017
and last updated 2017-06-26 22:59:18-04

GLOUCESTER, Va. – Some guns previously reported stolen from a gun shop have turned up in a Newport News motel, according to federal court documents.

Back on February 12, 52 guns were stolen from the Hunter’s Heaven Gun Shop in Hayes, Virginia, record state.

News 3 originally brought you the story soon after the burglary happened.

“You kind of get a sinking feeling in your stomach,” said the owner Paul Decker, when he found out about the burglary.

Decker has owned Hunter’s Heaven for 35 years, and he said he has been burglarized five or six times now.

“They don’t think about the personal effect of it,” said Decker of the suspects, “A lot of times as Americans, we think of corporations and businesses as faceless entities. You’re really not hurting anybody but when you go to a small business that is privately owned, you are not only affecting the owner, but his family and his employees, and it is a real personal thing.”

Police say about $20,000 worth of guns were stolen.

Alissha Faulks

New court records indicate that police set up surveillance of a man selling firearms out of the American Tudor Inn in Newport News.

On February 21 police said the suspect was carrying unknown objects covered with a bed sheet out of a motel room.

The records said the suspect dropped the firearms and attempted to flee but was caught by law enforcement.  Three long rifles were discovered.

Police executed a search warrant on a motel room and found nine other various types of guns and it states all the guns were the same guns reported stolen from Hunter’s Heaven Gun Store.

Police also found cocaine, suspected marijuana, scales, a mask and drug paraphernalia, according to documents.

27-year-old Alissha Shalee Faulks was in the motel room while the search warrant was executed and she was arrested for possession of stolen firearm and possession of cocaine with intent to deliver.

On February 27 records state another firearm was found in another motel room.  Another motel guest apparently called police when they found it between the mattress and the box spring.

Authorities accused Faulks of helping the male suspect sell guns out of the motel.

Deputies were searching for suspect leads, and released photos of two unique firearms - a Remington 700 .30-06 Dale Earnhardt Jr. commemorative edition rife and a Magnum Research BFR .500 Smith and Wesson.

Many of the stolen guns are still missing and if you have information on where they are you are asked to contact authorities.

If you know something, you could earn up to $7,000 cash.

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives is offering a reward of up to $3,000 if an anonymous tip leads to an arrest. The National Shooting Sports Foundation has agreed to match that reward, and Crime Stoppers will give up to $1,000 for anonymous tips that help solve the crime.

If you have information call the Crime Line at 1-888-LOCK-U-UP.