Man gets prison for tunneling into Placer County gun store to steal firearms
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- A San Rafael man received 38 years in prison for a 2024 gun store burglary.
- Authorities said the suspect tunneled into Foothill Firearms and stole 66 guns.
- Investigators arrested two alleged accomplices; their cases remain pending.
A judge last week sentenced a Bay Area man to 38 years in prison for his role in a burglary last year at a Placer County gun store where a thief tunneled his way into the business and stole an estimated $40,000 worth of firearms.
On July 1, a jury found Tyrone Brennen, 40, of San Rafael guilty on 68 felony charges stemming from the July 22, 2024, burglary at Foothill Firearms in Newcastle, according to the Placer County District Attorney’s Office.
Prosecutors on Thursday afternoon announced that Placer Superior Court Judge Jeffrey Penney sentenced Brennen.
Criminal cases are still pending for two other Bay Area men, Loren Bingham, 41, of Vallejo and Richard Nosenzo, 57, of Vallejo, who were arrested and accused as co-defendants in the gun store burglary case with Brennen.
Prosecutors said Brennen cut a hole in the side of the guns store and stole 66 handguns, and security cameras captured him leaving the burglarized business.
Jaimie Kuntz, co-owner of Foothill Firearms, said at the time the guns stolen from the store were estimated to be worth at least $40,000, ranging from $900 to $1,800 a piece.
A joint investigation led by the Placer County Sheriff’s Office led to authorities identifying Brennen as one of the suspects. He was arrested Aug. 6, 2024, and detectives recovered stolen firearms and burglary tools directly tied to the burglary, according to the District Attorney’s Office.
Bingham and Nosenzo also were arrested that day in the Bay Area. Sheriff’s officials at the time said one of the suspects used a power-cutting tool to cut a hole into the Foothill Firearms building, got inside the gun store, the stuffed the guns into duffel bags and was spotted on security camera video from a nearby business showed being picked up in a light-colored sedan and heading toward Interstate 80.
Investigators identified Bingham as a lookout during the gun store burglary and the getaway driver, and he was found during his arrest with an item that linked his involvement in the burglary, according to the Sheriff’s Office.
Nosenzo was found and arrested in the same home with Bingham. Sheriff’s officials have said Nosenzo was found with one of the guns stolen in the burglary.
