Crime & Safety
Third Arrest Made in Massachusetts Armory Theft
A Dorchester man is facing charges in connection with a theft from an armory in November. Authorities are still looking for missing firearms
A Dorchester man was arraigned in U.S. District Court in Worcester on Monday in connection with selling weapons that were stolen from the U.S. Army Reserve Center in Worcester (aka Worcester Armory) and for making false statements to federal agents.
Tyrone James, 28, was charged with one count of being a felon in possession of a firearm and one count of making false statements. James was returned to state custody following his initial appearance. A detention and probable cause hearing was scheduled for Jan. 4, 2016.
On Nov. 20, federal agents searched the residence of Ashlee Bigsbee and Tyrone James, both of whom had met with Morales the day after the robbery.
According to Morales, Bigsbee introduced Morales to James, who then arranged the sale of five handguns in two separate transactions.
During an interview with federal agents, it is alleged that James falsely denied having knowledge of the stolen weapons or having been involved in their sale.
However, said the announcement, forensic examiners recovered numerous previously-deleted text messages in which James allegedly offered to arrange for the sale of weapons stolen from the Worcester Armory. For example, on Nov. 15, 2015 Tyrone texted one contact, “Bro hit me if u know anyone lookin for any blicks.” In a separate conversation, James allegedly negotiated the sale of three M-11 handguns for $900.
On Nov. 19, 2015, James Morales was arrested and charged with one count of unlawful possession of a machine gun, one count of unlawful possession of stolen firearms and one count of theft of government property. Ashley Bigsbee has been charged with one count of unlawful possession of stolen firearms and one count of false statements.
The FBI is offering up to a $15,000 reward for information which leads to the recovery of the remaining missing firearms.
