Local police and agents from the state Attorney General’s Office last week arrested two teens and seized three guns after securing search warrants for homes in Pittsburgh and Rankin, the agency announced Thursday.
Authorities said they arrested Daonte King, 18, on gun charges after searching his Mount Washington home March 18. One of the two pistols officers confiscated at King’s Greenbush Street home had been reported stolen, police said.
A day later, police arrested Jailen D. Mitchell, 19, at his home on Rankin’s Dorothy Drive, where they found a pistol, authorities said.
“We have collaborated with partners in recent weeks to remove dozens of firearms and dangerous offenders from Western Pennsylvania communities,” state Attorney General Dave Sunday said in a prepared statement.
“Every gun taken off the street represents a life potentially saved, a neighborhood made safer, and a clear message that we will not allow violent crime to take root in our commonwealth,” Allegheny County Housing Authority police Chief Mike Vogel added.
Police found a .40-caliber pistol with a laser attachment and extended magazine in a utility room in King’s home, according to a criminal complaint. It had no serial number, according to a criminal complaint. A 9 mm pistol was found in a purse stashed inside a bedroom closet.
Officers also recovered nearly $3,500 in cash, 14 cellphones — 11 of them iPhones — in different colored cases, and a black Kindle, the complaint said.
A day later, authorities said they searched Mitchell’s home. The teen was living there with his 25-year-old sister.
Police found a 9 mm pistol that had been tossed onto the roof of the building, the complaint said. Police said he was not eligible to have a gun. Investigators also recovered three iPhones.
One 9 mm magazine, loaded with 13 rounds, lay on the ground of Mitchell’s home near a pair of shoes, the complaint said. Three empty magazines sat on a shoe rack.
King now faces three firearms charges. He was arraigned March 18 and released on nonmonetary bail, court records show.
Mitchell, who is on juvenile probation, was charged with one count each of gun possession and tampering with evidence. He was taken to the Allegheny County Jail on $100,000 bail. He later posted bond and was released.
Neither defendants’ attorneys were listed Thursday in online court records.
The attorney general’s office said it made the arrests while working alongside police officers from Pittsburgh, McKees Rocks, Swissvale and Monroeville.
Allegheny County’s juvenile probation department, Pennsylvania State Police and state parole officers also were involved.
Authorities said they’ve seized more than 50 firearms this year to date in Allegheny, Fayette, Somerset and Westmoreland counties.
