MOUNTAIN VIEW — A man has been arrested on suspicion of snatching a firearm from a gun shop Wednesday, and the store owner could face his own legal trouble for reportedly firing a shot in the air while chasing him, police said.
Officers were called at 1:48 p.m. to E2’s Gun Vault, in the 300 block of El Camino Real, for a report of a handgun theft, according to the Mountain View Police Department. They arrived to find the business owner and an employee detaining a 33-year-old Mountain View man.
An initial investigation found that the man walked into the shop and “immediately ran out with a firearm he had not purchased,” police said, prompting the owner and his employee to chase the man for several blocks.
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During the chase, police said the owner “fired one gunshot into the air,” not directed at any person, and soon after the man who allegedly took the firearm surrendered. No injuries were reported.
The man accused of the theft was booked into the Santa Clara County Main Jail on suspicion of firearm theft and being a felon in possession of a firearm. Jail records show he was being held in lieu of $500,000 bail.
Police added that investigators plan to ask the county District Attorney’s Office to “review potential charges” against the gun shop owner for negligent discharge of a firearm.
Anyone with information about the theft or shooting can contact Mountain View police Sgt. David Shen at [email protected].