Tom Pappert, lead reporter at The Tennessee Star, said law enforcement agencies involved in the January 20 arrest of five teenagers who attempted a break-in at the Arms and Ammo store in Franklin provided a “stunning lack of information” on the case after The Star learned from a source that the teenagers are reportedly Honduran nationals who were in the U.S. illegally at the time of their arrest.
On Tuesday, Pappert reported that a source familiar with the investigation of the attempted robbery of the gun store told The Star that the five teenage suspects, ranging in age from 13 to 15, are Honduran nationals who are illegally in the U.S. and are scheduled to be deported by federal immigration authorities.
The five suspects were apprehended after a pursuit that involved multiple law enforcement agencies after fleeing the scene at the gun store, where they were unsuccessful in their attempt to ram the front of the store with a four-door sedan.
While the Franklin Police Department (FPD) has since confirmed to The Star that the teens resided in Nashville prior to their arrest, no other law enforcement agencies have responded about the suspects’ citizenship statuses.
“The stunning lack of information from police has been frustrating on this story,” Pappert said on Wednesday’s edition of The Michael Patrick Leahy Show.
“We’ve had very little information answered…There’s virtually no information about these teens,” Pappert added.
Pappert said the law enforcement agencies have not only been silent on the immigration status of the teenagers but also if the suspects remain in custody or not.
“The Williamson County Sheriff’s Office didn’t respond to us. The Franklin Police Department told us that we would need to go through the District Attorney for any information. I thought since these are residents of Nashville, let’s ask Davidson County. Davidson County told us they checked the sheriff’s office and the juvenile hall and had no record of any of the five teens,” Pappert explained.
“It seems either through silence or through malfeasance that these teens have gone missing, at least in the eyes of the media,” Pappert added.
Pappert also said law enforcement has not provided answers surrounding the vehicle used in the attempted robbery, noting how the suspects, given their age, are not licensed drivers.
“We know that car thefts are up not just in Tennessee but across the United States. There’s specific models… of Hyundai and Kia [that can be easily stolen], so it seems to be, judging by the windows, like that may be what this vehicle was – one of these vehicles that are easily stolen,” Pappert said.
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Kaitlin Housler is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network. Follow Kaitlin on X / Twitter.
