A Southern California man jailed last week for stealing firearms from a store on Redwood Highway in Grants Pass has been charged with a total of 25 crimes.
On Friday afternoon, a Grants Pass Police SWAT team arrested 27-year-old Antone Wayne Bayard when he tried to run from a rental home on Willow Lane.
A GPPD investigation revealed that Bayard had broken into a firearms retail store in the 200-block of Highway 199 last Wednesday evening. Responding officers discovered the front doors of the business had been smashed open and multiple guns had been stolen. Video surveillance showed the suspect used a pickup truck to break through the doors and the suspect quickly gathered guns before fleeing.
A GPPD School Marshal advised detectives he had seen a subject matching the description at a local grocery store the day of the break-in. That led to the suspect's identification and subsequent arrest. It was also discovered that the suspect was wanted on a Riverside County, California, fugitive warrant for Parole Violation.
After Bayard's arrest, detectives from GPPD, OSP, Medford Police, Rogue Area Drug Enforcement, the US Marshals Service and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives served a search warrant on the Willow Lane rental and seized at least 10 firearms stolen from the Grants Pass store.
Bayard was charged with 10 counts each of Felon in Possession of a Firearm and 1st-Degree Theft plus single counts of Felony Burglary, Felony Criminal Mischief, Unauthorized Use of a Motor Vehicle and Supplying Contraband along with the out-of-state fugitive warrant. He remained in custody without bail on Monday.
