California Arrest Made In 2002 Theft of 127 Firearms

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ELISE ACKERMAN
San Jose Mercury News via the Associated Press

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives announced Thursday it had arrested a San Mateo man for stealing more than 100 firearms belonging to a prominent Silicon Valley venture capitalist.

The ATF said the 2002 heist was the largest gun theft in the Bay Area.

Arthur Bernard Gates, 38, was arrested Thursday morning for breaking into a Millbrae storage unit where 127 shotguns, rifles, handguns and pistols were being stored by Monterey Bay Investments on behalf of William Cargile, a former partner at Crosspoint Venture Partners in Woodside.

So far, only 21 guns from Cargile's collection appear to have been recovered. The ATF is continuing to look for the rest of the guns and for two suspected accomplices.

Marti McKee, an ATF spokeswoman, said tracking the guns has been difficult because the robbers had a two-year head start on the law.

Though the theft occurred in the fall of 2002, it was not discovered until August. ATF officials said Cargile had transferred the guns to Monterey Bay Investments because of legal complications.

In June 2002, Cargile received a 60-day sentence for misdemeanor charges of assault and false imprisonment. During his two-year probation, he was not allowed to possess firearms and so, in a standard legal maneuver, he gave them to someone else.

Reached by phone, Cargile said the misdemeanor charges were "cooked up" and that he entered a plea to avoid a trial. He said he was happy an arrest had been made in the theft of his guns.

According to the affidavit, neither Cargile nor a Monterey Bay Investments executive returned to the storage unit at Annie's Attic until Cargile received a call in August from the Fresno Police Department. Police said they had arrested someone with one of Cargile's guns.

Curious....MBI did my first FFL transaction on a 22/45 I got off Gunbroker.