Reward offered for guns stolen from Massachusetts Army center

The FBI is offering a $15,000 reward for tips leading to the recovery of several handguns stolen from a U.S. Army Reserve Center in Worcester last month.

Sixteen weapons, including six M-4 rifles and 10 9 mm Sig Sauer pistols, were stolen from the facility on Nov. 14.

Ten of the weapons, including all the rifles, were recovered in New York early last week, following the arrest of a suspect in the theft.

“We’re asking anyone with information about the location of these weapons to come forward, and anyone who may have access to these weapons to turn them in to either the FBI or their local police department,” said Harold Shaw, the FBI’s special agent in charge in Boston.

James Morales, 34, was arrested on Nov. 19 and charged with stealing the guns after breaking into the facility through a kitchen window, federal prosecutors said, citing surveillance video and an electronic monitoring bracelet Morales had been ordered to wear by a court.

Morales had gone to the facility earlier that week to pick up copies of his military discharge papers.

A Dorchester woman was arrested late Friday afternoon for being in possession of an M-4 assault rifle that was stolen from the armory, and for making false statements to federal agents, the U.S. Attorney’s OfficeDistrict of Massachusetts announced Monday.

Ashley Bigsbee, 26, has been charged with one count of unlawful possession of a machine gun and one count of false statements.

She was busted on an outstanding state warrant on Nov. 20. A photograph found on a cellphone recovered during that arrest allegedly contained a photo of Bigsbee with what appeared to be a stolen Sig Sauer handgun and an M-4 assault rifle.Bigsbee voluntarily spoke with FBI agents and denied knowing anything about the armory robbery and the stolen weapons, guns that Morales was allegedly trying to sell.

The M-4 assault rifle was later recovered by law enforcement agents in Dorchester on Nov. 27.

Bigsbee appeared in U.S. District Court in Worcester on Monday, and will remain in U.S. Marshal custody until her detention hearing scheduled for Dec. 3.

-Reuters contributed to this report