Ojai Store to Stop Selling Handguns After 3rd Theft : Weapons: Dozens of pistols and revolvers have been stolen from the shop in the last two years.

An Ojai businessman, fed up with the thefts of dozens of pistols and revolvers from his store during the past two years, has decided to stop selling handguns.

David Vadnais, owner of Coast to Coast Hardware, made the decision after a burglary last week.

“This was not the first break-in regarding that type of merchandise,” he said Thursday. “I’m not sorry to see them go.”

The latest theft occurred at 3 a.m. on April 29, when an Oxnard man stole 18 used handguns worth $5,110, authorities said.

A witness reported seeing a man run from the store at 1115 Maricopa Highway, and Ventura County Sheriff’s Deputy Jim Kenney captured the man within 15 minutes, authorities said.

Maurice Joe Sandoval, 34, was booked into Ventura County Jail on charges of burglary and violating his parole on a former conviction. Bail has been set at $10,000, and Sandoval is scheduled to be arraigned Monday.

In July, 1990, 11 guns valued at $4,000 were stolen from the store, Sheriff’s Detective Mike Johnson said. In September, 1989, another 24 guns valued at $8,000 were reported missing after the store’s glass windows, doors and display case were smashed, Johnson said.

One of the guns taken in the September theft turned up the following day in the hands of a young man who waved it around a hall in the Ventura County Courthouse, authorities said. His arrest led authorities to the remaining guns.

Johnson said Vadnais’ store may have been popular with gun thieves because Ojai is an out-of-the-way location.

Coast to Coast Hardware carries a variety of hardware, sporting goods, household goods and gardening and plumbing products. Near the front of the store, a glass display case that once held revolvers and semiautomatic pistols is now stocked with ammunition and shooting supplies, Vadnais said. He said he will continue to sell sport rifles.

Authorities said Vadnais’ store was the only legal outlet for handguns in the Ojai Valley.