The Juneau Police Department is asking the community to help identify a man suspected of stealing two rifles from a traveler at the Juneau International Airport.
JPD on Tuesday released photos of the suspect, taken from airport security footage the day of the theft, Oct. 27.
“Anyone with information about the missing firearms or identity of the suspect is encouraged to call JPD at 586-0600,” JPD spokesperson Erann Kalwara wrote in an information release.
According the police, a 71-year-old Juneau man reported that he had left the rifles unattended for just a moment at the airport curb that afternoon. He had left the firearms, covered in cloth cases, resting against a bench at the airport curb while he attended to his other belongings.
“The man never left the area of the curb,” the JPD release states. “When he returned to the bench to retrieve the rifles, they were gone.”
Police later reviewed the security footage, which shows the unidentified suspect taking the firearms, police say.
“The man was seen just before noon inside the airport carrying an orange hard plastic case. It was determined that after the suspect stole the guns, he left the area on a bicycle with the orange case secured to the rear rack of the bike,” Kalwara wrote.
The suspect is described as white adult male between the ages of 25 and 35 years old. He had close-cut or shaved hair, red or brown facial hair, and was wearing a dark coat, plaid pants, and a black and white baseball cap with a red bill and white patch at the time of the theft.
Police described the firearms as a Remington Model 700, 0.35 Whelen caliber with walnut stock and a Remington Model 700, .30-06 caliber with walnut stock. Both rifles were equipped with slings and Bushnell Banner scopes. The two rifles were each valued at about $1,000.
The man police suspect of stealing two rifles from a traveler at the Juneau International Airport curb on Oct. 27.
