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Press Release

Independence Man Charged With Illegal Firearm

For Immediate Release
U.S. Attorney's Office, Western District of Missouri

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Tammy Dickinson, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced that an Independence, Mo., man was charged in federal court today with illegally possessing a firearm after a witness called the police to report him burglarizing a neighbor’s home using a stolen car.

 

Randy R. Smith, 33, of Independence, was charged with being a felon in possession of a firearm in a federal criminal complaint filed in the U.S. District Court in Kansas City, Mo.

 

According to an affidavit filed in support of today’s criminal complaint, an Independence resident called police at approximately 12:16 p.m. Thursday, July 14, 2016, to report a burglary in progress in the 1100 block of South Claremont. The witness reported that two men arrived at a neighbor’s residence in a red Honda Fit, which had been previously reported as stolen by a subject armed with a firearm. The witness reported that the two men moved from the vehicle to the read of the neighbor’s residence, then returned to the vehicle, carrying items from the residence to the vehicle.

 

The suspects left before officers arrived at the residence, but within a few minutes, an officer located the Honda Fit in the parking lot of Sunfresh Grocery, 18001 E. US 24 Hwy., Independence. Smith, who was driving the vehicle, was arrested. According to the affidavit, Smith was in possession of a loaded Omega .32-caliber revolver, which he was carrying in a shoulder holster. The trigger guard of the firearm was missing and appeared to have been cut off or removed by unknown means. The firearm had been painted purple and yellow, the affidavit says, in such a manner as if to disguise the weapon as a toy. Officers also found a variety of ammunition in the vehicle.

 

A passenger in the vehicle was also arrested but was not charged in federal court.

 

Under federal law, it is illegal for anyone who has been convicted of a felony to be in possession of any firearm or ammunition. Smith has prior felony convictions for burglary, receiving stolen property, forgery and being a felon in possession of a firearm.

 

Dickinson cautioned that the charge contained in this complaint is simply an accusation, and not evidence of guilt. Evidence supporting the charge must be presented to a federal trial jury, whose duty is to determine guilt or innocence.

 

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Adam Caine. It was investigated by the Independence, Mo., Police Department and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

Updated July 15, 2016

Topic
Project Safe Neighborhoods