A 31-year-old convicted felon from South Carolina was arrested in Marion County this week in connection with the theft of a shotgun from a local pawn shop in 2021.
According to the Belleview Police Department arrest report, an officer responded to Belleview Pawn (6691 SE 110th Street in Belleview) on October 28, 2021. The officer made contact with an employee who advised that a black Mossberg 12-gauge pump shotgun had been stolen from the store two days earlier.
The employee told the officer that the store’s video surveillance footage from the time of the theft was reviewed, and a man and woman arrived at the location in the same vehicle. They both entered the store, and the woman conducted a transaction at the counter while the male suspect, later identified as Alexander Timothy Rosa, walked towards the firearm section.
The BPD report stated that Rosa was observed on the footage reaching behind a glass display case in the firearm section of the store, and he attempted to open it. He then walked behind the glass display case and was observed checking the price tag of a shotgun.
After briefly walking away from the firearm section, he returned to a display of long guns and took the Mossberg shotgun off the rack. Moments later, he walked away from the camera with the shotgun in his possession and exited the store with the woman, according to the BPD report.
A warrant was issued for Rosa’s arrest on November 2, 2021. According to the indictment, Rosa “continued to possess the shotgun” until November 9, 2021.
Rosa was previously convicted of multiple felonies, including breaking into a motor vehicle (2014), grand theft (2015), robbery (2017), and two counts of assault and first-degree battery (2017). Due to these prior convictions, he is prohibited from possessing a firearm or ammunition under federal law.
Rosa is being charged with possession of a firearm as a convicted felon, possession of a stolen firearm, and stealing a firearm from a federal firearms licensee. If convicted, he faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in federal prison on each of the three counts.
An indictment is merely an allegation that a defendant has committed a federal criminal offense. Every defendant is presumed innocent unless, and until, proven guilty.
This case is being investigated by the Belleview Police Department, the Camden County Sheriff’s Office, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Hannah Nowalk.