Man charged in theft of guns from Chicago train yard

CHICAGO – Federal court records unsealed this week show a suburban Chicago man is facing federal charges alleging he stole guns and assault rifles from a train yard last year.

The Chicago Tribune reports Cameron Battiste is charged with unlawful possession of a firearm by a felon stemming from the September 2016 heist at the Norfolk Southern rail yard on Chicago’s South Side.

The 35-year-old Battiste was arrested in Iowa this month after DNA taken from two recovered guns matched his. A federal magistrate ordered Battiste held without bond. Court records show an informant aided investigators in Battiste’s arrest.

Records say 27 handguns and six assault rifles were stolen from a container offloaded from a cargo train. The container was headed from Pennsylvania to a southern California sporting goods dealer.