Weapon Stolen During Gun Store Burglary Brought In For Repair

INDIANAPOLIS -- Two men were questioned by police and one arrested Monday after a handgun that was stolen during a bold burglary at an Indianapolis gun store last year was brought back to the store for repairs.

Don Davis, who owns Don's Guns near 38th Street and Lafayette Road, told 6News' Jack Rinehart he called police when two men came into his store Monday with the weapon.

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"When a fellow came in here today and said, 'I bought it off the street,' well, whether he did or not, I don't know, but he didn't get to leave until the police got here and they took him out of here in handcuffs," Davis said.

The two men were taken into police custody and questioned, but then let go. Police said one of the men had a valid gun permit and told investigators that he purchased the gun on the street, which is not a crime in Indiana.

The other man -- 18-year-old Anthony Butler -- was also questioned and released, although police later told Rinehart that his release was a mistake.

Butler is currently serving a two-year term in a work-release program and was let out on Monday for the sole purpose of attending a job skills training course, not to run errands at a gun store, corrections officials said

"In no way shape or form should he have been anywhere other than where he was directed to go," said Tom Marendt, director of Marion County Community Corrections.

Early Monday evening, Butler returned to the work-release facility, where he was arrested, police said. He was being held without bond.

Butler has prior misdemeanor and felony convictions for illegal possession of a firearm, Marendt said. In 2007, police said Butler was shot twice during gang-related drive-by shootings.

Last summer, 14-year-old twin brothers were arrested and charged with using a stolen car as a battering ram to break into the gun store and steal an assault rifle and several handguns. They are currently awaiting trial.