Police seize 34 guns from York man they say illegally owned, sold weapons

Police seized firearms and ammunition from the residence of Joshua Hutchins, 22, of York, who police say was unlawfully selling them to persons who weren’t lawfully allowed to purchase or possess firearms. (Photo: York County District Attorney)

(York) — A 22-year-old York man, who wasn’t allowed to possess firearms, in fact possessed a whole lot of them and was selling them to others who weren’t lawfully allowed to own such weapons.

That’s the report from the York County Drug Task Force and the York City Police Department, who investigated the activities of Joshua Hutchins of the 300 block of W. Market St.

York County District Attorney Dave Sunday said in a news release on Tuesday that, following a three-week investigation, Hutchins now faces a slew of charges, starting with firearms sales and possession offenses from an Aug. 10 incident in which he offered two handguns for sale to an undercover officer and had his own gun concealed on his person.

On Tuesday, investigators added 31 addition counts of persons not to possess firearms and 34 counts of receiving stolen property.

Chief Bryan Rizzo of Northeastern Regional Police Department describes the circumstances around a body found in creek in East Manchester Township.Paul Kuehnel, pkuehnel@ydr.com

Police said all the firearms and ammunition — there were 31 additional located and seized from Hutchins’ residence on Market St., including auto-loading handguns and revolvers as well as tactical shotguns and assault rifles — were stolen from Hutchins’ late stepfather, who was gun collector in Dover Township.

The stepfather died within the past year, police said, and the weapons were taken from Hutchins’ mother’s residence.

“The people of York County are safe today,” Sunday said in the release, citing the work of the drug task force, city PD and the York Area Regional Police Department.

“Anytime you remove 34 firearms, which were being sold illegally to those unable to lawfully posses them, is a good day.”

Hutchins met with the undercover officer at a convenience store on Aug. 10 in York Township. Both handguns he offered to sell had their serial numbers removed, Hutchins telling the undercover officer he scratched them off so they couldn’t be traced back to him.

He was arrested shortly thereafter and was found to be carrying a concealed Glock 40 in his waistband.

Charges were filed in Magisterial District Judge Laird’s office in York Township, and Hutchins is at York County Prison in lieu of bail, the release states.

This story comes to us through a partnership between WITF and The York Daily Record.