Make wishtv.com your home page

Gun shops on alert after attempted robbery

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) – A gun shop on the city’s south side is closed after a car crashed into it early Thursday morning during an attempted break-in.

Bradis gun shop is located near Kentucky Avenue and Ameriplex Parkway.

Three men allegedly stole another man’s car and then attempted to ram it through the front of the building. Nothing was stolen.

“When I looked up there was a gun pointed right in my head,” said Dennis Mathews, who had his car stolen. “First of all, I was mad so I didn’t get panicky. I know not to panic, it doesn’t do any good. I  thought about running then I said, ‘no.’ So, I just stood there and when they drove off, I took off.”

But before that Mathews says one of the thieves asked him something.

“He said, ‘pray for me. Will you pray for me?’ I said, ‘yeah, I’ll pray for you,’” said Mathews.

Owners of the shop wouldn’t talk. But gun shops say this is a fairly common crime.

“It’s a constant battle, we’ve spent literally 10s of thousands of dollars on security here to keep the bad guys out,” said Brian Ludlow, the owner of Indy Trading Post on the city’s south side.

Ludlow had a similar incident as recently as September. Now they have barriers around much of the shop.

“They’re not there for decoration, they’re to keep people from driving cars through the building,” said Ludlow.

As for Mathews who was able to recover his car this morning, he says he’s convinced he cheated death

“To look death right in the eye and say what do you do now? And all I can think of is don’t get stupid,” said Mathews.

This robbery came just hours after Mayor Joe Hogsett addressed a new tip line to get stolen guns off the streets.

“In partnership with Crime Stoppers of Central Indiana this program will reward young people for speaking up and getting these weapons out of our neighborhoods while allowing IMPD to target the local underground markets that provide firearms to these youths,” said Mayor Hogsett.

The program will award teenagers up to $750 for calling in stolen guns.

Never miss another Facebook post from WISH-TV

Crime Map
Use Search Bars Above To Search Crime Data