Kansas City man charged with possessing stolen Westport gun related to string of thefts
A Kansas City man is charged in federal court with illegal firearm possession after he was allegedly seen with a gun by undercover police conducting a surveillance operation in Westport related to a string of area gun thefts.
Nathan Mack, 31, has been charged in the Western District of Missouri after he was arrested Saturday allegedly in possession of two guns, according to federal prosecutors. He has prior felony convictions that bar him from having a gun.
On July 25, undercover Kansas City police saw Mack at 42nd Street and Pennsylvania Avenue exiting a champagne-colored sedan that had been associated with an earlier theft. Mack was known to police as having a prior felony conviction and undercover officers saw him with a handgun, according to a federal affidavit.
Mack was taken into custody by uniformed police providing backup. Officers then saw a gun sitting on the driver’s side floorboard of Mack’s car in plain view. Investigators learned the handgun recovered had been reported stolen from an automobile a little more than a week prior.
Police towed the car from the area. A second handgun was later found between the front passenger seat and the passenger door, according to court records.
During an interview with police, Mack allegedly said he was only holding the gun for a female associate of his, according to court records. He told police he kept the gun in his waistband briefly so she could urinate.
Mack was recently released from prison after being sentenced to 10 years for felony robbery and armed criminal action, according to court records.
Police began surveilling Westport following reports earlier this month of dozens of stolen firearms from cars parked in the area. Thieves were breaking into cars on Friday and Saturday nights, marking a “significant increase” of such thefts, Kansas City police said at the time.
Sgt. Jake Becchina, a Kansas City Police Department spokesman, said Wednesday that reports of stolen guns have been higher than average for the past several weeks up until last weekend. He also said gun thefts are of particular concern for police because they demonstrate a person’s willingness to break into a car, who is then armed.
“That’s a dangerous combination,” Becchina said in an email.
Mack is at least the second person recently arrested by police investigating the spate of stolen guns.
Two weeks ago, police arrested 22-year-old Rayquan Pettaway after he and another man were suspected of “casing” Westport for vehicles to break into.
Pettaway and another man were seen near the Impala in a parking lot on West 40th Street, between Pennsylvania Avenue and Washington Street, police said. The two were near parked cars, “possibly on the verge of forcing entry” into them, an ATF agent wrote in court documents.
When officers converged, Pettaway got into a car and sped away, police said. Officers later found it parked near West 39th and Central streets. Pettaway was arrested following a foot chase. A stolen gun was found inside the car.
The Star’s Luke Nozicka contributed to this report.
This story was originally published July 28, 2021 at 4:22 PM.
