A Hephzibah man was sentenced to 11 years in prison Thursday for crashing a stolen car into a gun store to steal guns.
Prosecutors said Bryceon Cato, 24, and two others broke into a Peach Orchard Road car dealership in September 2020 and drove off in a stolen 1993 Toyota Corolla.
They drove the car to the Cold Fish Armory in Hephzibah where they crashed it through the entrance and stole eight guns, said Jarryd Brown, assistant district attorney for the Augusta Circuit.
Store owner James Herring said the thieves had to have chosen a vehicle narrow enough to get through the gated, reinforced entrance, then drive it “fast enough and hard enough” to bounce over a curb and take down the metal gate and door.
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The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms offered a reward for information about the stolen guns, but most have not been recovered. Cato testified he was present when a co-defendant sold some of the guns at a Wheeless Road gas station but didn’t know where the rest wound up.
Cato’s grandmother, Yvonne Harrison, asked the court to be lenient with her first grandchild. “Please give me some kind of mercy,” she said.
Chief Richmond County Superior Court Judge Danny Craig sentenced Cato to 11 of the 15 years sought by Brown plus 19 years on probation for the theft, if he cooperates with investigators, enters rehab and pays Herring and the car dealer restitution.
Craig gave Cato additional time for receiving stolen property and possessing oxycodone and marijuana with the intent to distribute, for combined concurrent sentences of 11 years in prison and 24 years on probation.
Staff reporter Janell Williams contributed to this report.
Susan McCord is a staff writer with The Augusta Press. Reach her at susan@theaugustapress.com
