An employee at the Dunham’s sporting goods store in Richland was arrested after he was recorded on video surveillance stealing a pistol from a storage room, according to authorities.
ZackaryAllen Hill, 19, of the 3600 block of Crestview Drive in Richland, was charged by Northern Regional Police with felony counts of illegal possession of a firearm, receiving stolen property and retail theft.
Hill was released from custody on a nonmonetary bond and faces a preliminary hearing before District Judge Tom Swan on Dec. 14, according to court records.
When police responded to the store at about 12:30 p.m. on Nov. 25, they found multiple employees holding Hill on the ground, according to his arrest papers.
Police said Hill was handcuffed and escorted out of the store by an officer, but “expressed confusion as he thought he was going to be able to leave” instead of being arrested, the complaint said.
The store’s loss prevention director told police that on Nov. 21 he viewed surveillance video showing Hill inside a locked gun storage area “shoving what may have been a firearm into his pants,” the complaint said.
Hill was contacted and agreed to come into the store to be interviewed, the director told police. He said Hill also signed a statement in which he admitted to stealing the gun.
In the statement, Hill said he took the gun and gave it to a marijuana dealer who threatened to shoot Hill’s girlfriend if he did not steal a gun for him, the complaint said.
During the interview at the store Hill, called his girlfriend to tell her about the gun and ask her to return it to the store, which she did, the complaint said.
Police said Hill’s girlfriend told them that she was unaware of the gun until he called and asked her to bring it to the store.
Store employees detained Hill when he tried to flee after being told that police were on their way to the store to investigate the gun theft, the complaint said.
