Business owner offers reward in theft, fire

EMS owner Ed Robinson indicates how high the fire, started by a burglar, was. The carpet at his feet was melted by the flames. Robinson thinks the burglary was done by a youth because the only thing taken was an inexpensive gun, which was recovered from a rooftop the next day.

By Steve Moyer

Nevada Daily Mail

A short paragraph appeared in the Sunday Herald-Tribune classified ad section this week. "$500 Reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person or persons responsible for the June 6 break-in, theft and fire at EMS Guns and Ammo. All replies strictly confidential. Please call (417) 667-6600."

Ed Robinson had received a nasty surprise the night of June 6. He was alerted to a problem by the barking of his dogs. Robinson, his wife Kim and two of their children live upstairs of the sporting goods store they own.

"The dogs were barking so I went out the back way, then I came back and went downstairs from the front," Robinson said. "The first thing I saw was the fire they started with a can of gunpowder. I grabbed a fire extinguisher and put the fire out. We called the police and fire department and reported they stole a gun. The fire department made sure the fire was out, but by then it was just smoldering."

The next morning Robinson got a slightly better surprise -- the gun that was stolen was recovered.

"The next morning my wife went out on the balcony, getting ready to leave, and she saw the gun on one of the rooftops we can see from the balcony," Robinson said.

Whoever set the fire may have gotten a nasty surprise, because although unconfined gunpowder won't explode, it does ignite very energetically. Robinson said he thought juveniles may have been the culprits.

"I think it was probably kids who did this, and they may have gotten burned when they set the fire," Robinson said. "For one thing, it looks like stealing the gun was a last-minute decision. Who starts a fire and then steals something? For another, the gun they took was an inexpensive one. I have $500 and $600 guns right in that case and the gun they took was only $150."

Robinson's daughter, Samantha, was especially dismayed over the event.

"My kids were upset," Robinson said. "My daughter was really broken-hearted. For two or three days she was just broken-hearted about it."

Robinson said that a week earlier, the alarm had been set off by someone tampering with a window.

"A week before, someone tried to come through the window and set the alarm off while I was gone on vacation."

Robinson said that he hopes the reward will get someone to come forward with information, he had some calls while he was closed for business and there were several empty messages on the answering machine.

"I'm hoping they'll call back," Robinson said. "This really bothered me. It's scary for me. It's scary for my family, because we live right above where the fire was set."

Robinson said he was glad he had dogs to back up the electronic security installed in the shop.

"I'm just glad I have dogs," Robinson said. "They're the ones that told me something was wrong."

Robinson isn't letting the incident get him down. He is proceeding with plans to expand the business, which he moved from California to Nevada in 2005.

"We'll have been here two years in September," Robinson said. "We're going to expand into the next building and have more archery, black powder and reloading equipment. We're also going to have more things like T-shirts and hats."