Victoria Man Gets Two Years for Gun Theft

Staff Report

Tyrone Rainey, a 24-year-old Victoria man of 3753 Hardy Drive, was sentenced recently in Lunenburg County Circuit Court to serve two years in prison for stealing two firearms from his girlfriend’s aunt’s residence on Dogwood Lane on October 7 last year.  Rainey was convicted of two felonies:  Grand Larceny of the Firearms and Possession of a Firearm by a Non-Violent Convicted Felon.

An additional 13 years was imposed and suspended upon conditions of good behavior, no contact with the victim, supervised probation, and warrantless searches.

According to Commonwealth’s Robert Clement, the incident arose while Rainey was visiting his girlfriend.  Her statement to Deputy Sheriff Tonya Woodson was that he went in and out of the house several times before her aunt returned home and quickly noticed that a gun case containing two guns, a 12-gauge shotgun and a .22 rifle, was missing.  The aunt said she went back into the living room obviously upset, but before she said anything about the guns, Rainey exclaimed, “I didn’t take your guns.”

A search of the room where the guns had been stored revealed that a plastic covering over the window had been torn out toward the outside. The girlfriend kept telling the deputy that she had never seen Rainey with the guns, but it was obvious they had been thrown out the window.  The girlfriend also said she had looked out the back door earlier and had seen Rainey and a friend with his vehicle at the edge of the yard and wood line.  When she asked him what he was doing, he yelled at her to go back inside the house.

Later, two witnesses voluntarily contacted the police and revealed that they had given Rainey a ride from Kenbridge to Crymes Road, but he had told them to stop at a wooded area next to Thomas Funeral Home so he could find something he had left there.  When he came back to the car, the witnesses said he had a gun case which matched the description given by the owner.

Deputies Alex Madison and Kevin Abernathy went to the residence on Crymes Road and Madison found the guns in the back seat of a vehicle in the yard.  One of the residents confirmed that Rainey had been there.  The mother of the house said she had come home late and found Rainey at her house.  She told him to leave because she did not want him there.  She drove him home without him being able to retrieve the guns.

Since Rainey had a prior felony conviction in 2012 of Assault and Battery of a Law Enforcement Officer, he was subject to the mandatory minimum sentence of two years.  If he had been convicted of one of the enumerated violent felonies, he would have been subject to the mandatory minimum sentence of five years.

Rainey’s original conviction of Assault and Battery Upon a Law Enforcement Officer arose when police officers were executing a search warrant in 2012 at a residence on Mecklenburg Street just outside Victoria.  According to Clement, Rainey attempted to avoid a search of his pants pocket by swinging his arm around behind his back and knocking the officer’s arm away, and then attempting to run away.  Rainey tripped and fell, and was apprehended in the yard of the residence.  He served seven months in jail on that conviction.