Cabela’s must answer subpeona in ammo lawsuit

A Delaware judge has ordered Cabela’s Inc to answer a subpoena related to ammo thefts.

A Delaware judge says Cabela’s Inc. must answer a state subpoena related to the massive theft of ammunition at the Christiana Mall store. Attorney General Kathy Jennings issued the subpoena as part of a case arguing that Cabela’s itself contributed to the thefts through its hands-off approach to the shoplifting. Among other things, the suit said the store left ammo stacked in boxes in the center of store instead of following rules that require it to be out of the reach of customers. Cabela’s would not cooperate with the state Department of Justice investigation and  tried to move the case from state to federal court, but a U.S. District Judge said they had no grounds to do it, and kicked it back to the state. Jennings on Thursday said she was grateful to the Superior Court of the State of Delaware in State of Delaware. “Once again Cabela’s legal games have been unsuccessful,” Jennings said. “Cabela’s has attempted to thwart this investigation at every turn. It is ridiculous that we are now well beyond a year into this investigation and yet we still have no meaningful answers from Cabela’s. “We look forward to finally being able to investigate how the theft of such a shocking number of lethal ammunition was able to take place.”

civil memorandum opinion n23m-06-118 jrj

Cabela’s case

The case started with the arrest of in 2023 of Danielle Brookens, 38, while she was in the process of stealing ammunition. She told police she had been doing it for a year and stole as much as 500,000 rounds of ammo. She then sold it at one-third of the cost to others, including drug dealers and violent criminals in Delaware and Philadelphia, records said. Brookens, who had a history of substance abuse, was sentenced to a treatment program, a punishment that angered many who said she should have had to serve time. In denying Cabela’s attempt to move the case to federal court, Judge Richard G. Andrews of the District Court for the District of Delaware said Cabela’s lawyers didn’t describe any federal issues. “It should have been obvious,” Andrews said.