AR-15 rifle stolen from unmarked Ramsey County squad car

ST. LOUIS PARK, Minn. (KMSP) - Police are searching for the person who broke into an unmarked Ramsey County sheriff's car and stole an AR-15 rifle with a loaded magazine.

On Friday, Jan. 6 shortly after 7:30 p.m., St. Louis Park police were called to the third floor of a parking ramp near Highway 100 and Interstate 394 on a report of a theft.

St. Louis Park police and the Ramsey County sheriff’s office are both very tight lipped about this unusual theft, executed by someone who seems to have known exactly what they were after and just how to steal it.

A representative with the St. Louis Park Police Department told Fox 9 the thief got into the squad by somehow removing the door handle. The AR-15 was pried from a secured mount inside the vehicle, severely damaging the rifle mount in the process.

Gavin Kroehler manages the modern sportsman in savage, where he sells anywhere from 75 to 100 AR-15 rifles every week and says they’ve become more of a favorite over the past two years.

“I haven’t heard of anyone that doesn’t like the AR-15," Kroehler said. 

The rifle can range all the way up to $3,000, depending on the parts in it,” Kroehler says.

Kroehler knows little about any black market for these rifles, but if the theft has anything to do with one, what he is sure of is that sales there can do a range of serious damage, including on businesses like his.

“It affects storefronts in the long run because it gives them a bad rap,” Kroehler said.

Neither the Ramsey County sheriff’s office nor the St. Louis Park Police Department would comment, citing the case remains open and the active investigation continues.