A Prineville man was arrested Wednesday after police say he used an 11-year-old boy to help steal a handgun from a store.
Prineville Police Capt. Larry Seymour said a business reported the theft of a 9mm Glock pistol around 1 p.m. on Dec. 7th.
The crime and the getaway were captured on surveillance video, allowing officers to quickly identify the suspects, the vehicle they were in and where they lived.
Seymour said the suspect, 33-year-old Cameron Holt and an 11-year-old boy walked into the store together where the boy grabbed the pistol, put it in his waistband and cover it up in a hurried motion.
“It appeared both worked together to successfully steal the firearm,” Seymour said.
The pair quickly left the store and appeared to put the gun in a vehicle outside where a woman, later identified as the boy’s mother, was waiting.
Seymour said Holt then retrieved a .22 rifle from the vehicle and went back into the store with the boy. Holt asks someone in the store a quick question about the rifle and then the two left.
The investigation into Holt revealed he was not allowed to own a firearm stemming from a previous case and court order, Seymour said.
Police later identified the boy and learned he had just arrived in the area and had only attended one day of school – that Monday.
On Tuesday last week, police got a search warrant for Holt’s vehicle and home near the 1900 block of Colby Springs Road.
Due to the inherent danger in serving a search warrant for a firearm, the remote location, and the age of a subject involved, the help of the Central Oregon Emergency Response Team (CERT) was requested, Seymour said.
Police conducted surveillance on Wednesday of this week and stopped Holt’s vehicle around 12:45 p.m. near SE Paulina Highway and Conant Basin Road.
The boy and his mother were detained.
Immediately following the traffic stop, officers served the search warrant at the home and Holt was arrested.
Seymour said the Glock, ammunition, and drug paraphernalia were seized from the home.
Holt was booked in the Crook County Jail and charged with first-degree theft and unlawful possession of a firearm.
The boy was issued a citation for first-degree theft and taken to the Department of Human Services.
