Five arrests in Kingsbury handgun heist

KINGSBURY – Police slapped handcuffs on five individuals throughout Washington and Warren counties over the weekend, all of them connected to the burglary and theft of 31 handguns from Calamity Jane’s Firearms and Fine Shoes in Kingsbury early Friday morning.

Those charged include: Martin Taft, 47, of Salem, facing Grand Larceny 3rd Degree, Criminal Possession of a Weapon 1st Degree, and Burglary 3rd Degree.

Jonathan Combs, 42, of Wells, Vermont, facing Grand Larceny 3rd Degree, Criminal Possession of a Weapon 1st Degree, and Burglary 3rd Degree.

Billie Jo Parker, 47, of Hudson Falls, facing Criminal Possession of a Weapon 3rd Degree, and Criminal Possession of Stolen Property 1st Degree.

Sean Parmeter, 55, of Hudson Falls, facing Criminal Possession of a Weapon 3rd Degree, and Criminal Possession of Stolen Property 4th Degree.

Penny Phillips, 47, of Salem, facing Criminal Possession of a Weapon 3rd Degree, Criminal Possession of Stolen Property 1st Degree, and Criminal Possession of a Controlled Substance 7th.

While the beginning of the weekend was unsettling, to say the least, for the owners of Calamity Jane’s, by Monday morning things were looking up.

“I can’t say enough and the Havens family will never be able to repay the gratitude that we have for everything that they did,” said Jane Havens, owner and namesake of Calamity Jane’s.

For Havens, it’ll be a weekend she’ll never forget. It was spent going over inventory and making sure local, state, and federal agents knew exactly what was missing from her gun shop. Although appreciative of the quick arrests, she remains a crime victim.

“It’s a loss,” she asserted. “It’s my merchandise that I bought for my customers to come in and legitimately shop and look at and purchase, and yeah, it’s gone.”

Having been a crime victim in the past, Havens realizes it may take a while before her guns are returned.

“Even if they’re returned, we’re not going to sell them to people,” she said. “We’re going to look for new merchandise and go from there.”

Also disappointing to the Havens family is the fact they had to shut down their business the day before the opening of big game hunting season in New York.

“It’s an incredible hardship,” Havens asserted. “It’s a financial hardship, but more so since we’ve had the chaos since the beginning of the pandemic in our industry since March of 2020.”

Even though five people have now been arrested, the Washington County Sheriff’s Department says the investigation is ongoing.