KC men sold guns on Facebook, including a Glock offered to a juvenile, according to feds
Two Kansas City men face felony charges related to the illegal possession and sale of firearms after federal agents discovered 16 stolen guns, including an AR-style rifle, through the execution of search warrants in area residences this week.
Treyon Bloodsoe, 20, and Roy Rushing, 24, were arrested Thursday on allegations of stolen firearm possession, according to criminal complaints filed in the Western District of Missouri. Both Bloodsoe and Rushing were targets of a federal investigation, led by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, that began in the summer in relation to a string of firearm thefts from vehicles, court records show.
Authorities allege the men were identified as subjects of interest in a larger stolen-gun trafficking conspiracy investigation that was opened in July. Bloodsoe and Rushing are accused of arranging sales, recording purchases and advertising the stolen firearms to other associates on social media.
On Thursday, Rushing was taken into federal custody after a search was conducted by federal agents in his apartment in the Marlborough Heights neighborhood on Kansas City’s south side. Seven firearms were discovered, including two Glock handguns and a Radical Firearms RF-15 rifle, according to court records.
Another warrant was simultaneously served in the 2800 block of Kensington Avenue in the East Community Team South neighborhood. Bloodsoe was arrested inside that location. Authorities found nine firearms there, including a KelTec brand rifle.
They also found a bottle of prescription medication with Bloodsoe’s name and a pair of crutches in the bedroom. Those are believed to have been used by Bloodsoe while recovering from an accidental shooting in which Bloodsoe shot himself in the foot, court records state.
Records checks conducted by federal agents showed the recovered guns had been reported stolen in Kansas City, Missouri and Kansas City, Kansas, according to court records.
In September, federal agents were granted court authority to search the Facebook accounts of Rushing and Bloodsoe. Those searches revealed Bloodsoe and Rushing were engaged “in an ongoing conspiracy to traffic firearms,” a federal agent wrote in affidavits supporting criminal charges.
The complaint cites one example involving Bloodsoe’s Facebook account where a 9mm Glock was allegedly offered to a juvenile. In the message exchange, a video showing the gun was shared with the juvenile, whose name is withheld in court records.
Agents ran the serial numbers on the gun seen in the video. It was found in the possession of a juvenile five days later by Kansas City police.
In July, the Kansas City Police Department and ATF announced a rising number of gun thefts from vehicles parked in popular entertainment districts, including Westport. A surveillance operation of that area led to the arrests of two other men currently under separate federal indictments.
One was Rayquan Pettaway, 22, arrested by police conducting undercover surveillance near a parking lot on West 40th Street. Pettaway was seen with another man 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 that car parked near West 39th and Central streets. Pettaway was arrested following a foot chase.
Inside the car, police said they found a handgun that had been reported stolen from a parked vehicle hours earlier. Pettaway is charged in the indictment with having a stolen firearm, unlicensed firearm sales and being a felon in possession of a firearm.
Two weeks later, police were conducting surveillance in the area of 42nd Street and Pennsylvania Avenue when they spotted a car suspected to have been involved in gun thefts from automobiles.
The driver, Nathan Mack, 31, was arrested on suspicion of being a felon in possession of a firearm that was allegedly discovered in the car. He was later indicted on three felony gun charges, including stolen firearm possession.
The Star’s Luke Nozicka contributed to this report.
This story was originally published November 5, 2021 at 7:53 PM.
