A wanted felon out of Riverside California was arrested and lodged in the county jail following the burglary of a local gun store.
On Wednesday, just after 6:00 pm, Grants Pass Police Officers responded to a Firearms Retail Store in the 200 block of Redwood Hwy regarding an alarm.
Officers discovered the front doors of the business had been smashed open, and multiple firearms had been stolen. Store surveillance showed a white pickup truck backing through the doors and a lone suspect taking multiple firearms. Grants Pass Police Detectives responded to the scene and began their investigation.
An image of the suspect from the surveillance video was distributed to local police officers, and a Grants Pass Police School Marshall advised detectives he had seen a subject matching the description at a local grocery store the day of the burglary.
Further investigation by Grants Pass Detectives, Oregon State Police, Medford Police Detectives, the Rogue Area Drug Enforcement team, U.S. Marshals, and ATF identified the suspect as Antone W. Bayard, a 27-year-old from Southern California, was tracked to a VRBO rental on Willow Lane in Grants Pass. It was also discovered that Bayard was wanted for a parole violation warrant out of Riverside County, California.
Friday afternoon, just after 3:00 pm, as Grants Pass SWAT members began to surround the VRBO rental on Willow Lane, Antone Bayard ran from the residence and was arrested a short time later.
Grants Pass Detectives are in the process of obtaining a search warrant for the VRBO rental, where they are confident they will recover the stolen firearms. Willow Lane has been reopened following a brief closure for police action and for the safety of the community.
