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Federal investigators confiscated weapons and documents from a Warsaw gun shop and arrested its owner Thursday.
Earl Howard, 60, the owner of Little Hawk's Guns & Knives, Warren Street, Warsaw, was charged with two counts of selling a firearm to a convicted felon and one count of failing to keep required records. He was booked into the Allen County Jail after being taken into custody at his store by agents of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms.
Kenton D. Terrell, resident agent-in-charge of the Fort Wayne ATF office, said Thursday's arrest ended nearly a yearlong investigation. The investigation, which remains ongoing, included the use of a "cooperating individual" who is a convicted felon, Terrell said. The informant, convicted of a felony in Connecticut, was sent by ATF investigators to purchase guns from Howard.
According to federal court documents, the man told Howard he was a convicted felon and Howard allegedly told the man that he could not sell him a gun, but that he could have another person make the purchase for him.
The man reportedly was told by Howard to have a third party buy a gun from him at a Tipton gun show last October. The informant allegedly purchased a gun from Howard's Warsaw store in November and, in March, the informant allegedly paid $82 for a rifle from Little Hawk's. The man also reportedly received free ammunition for the rifle and no paperwork was filed to record the transaction, according to court documents.
Another alleged transaction took place in August.
Howard appeared in federal court Friday. He is not permitted to operate his firearms store until this case is resolved and he must sell or give his personal firearms to family members.
Howard's next scheduled court date is Sept. 26.
