A 30-year-old Columbia man is behind bars after two Walmart employees say they watched him smash open a glass gun case with a dolly and walk off with a hunting rifle. James Zoeller now faces a first-degree burglary charge that carries up to 15 years in prison under Missouri law, along with a separate charge for stealing the gun itself.
Zoeller was arrested and charged on Tuesday after allegedly trying to steal a firearm from the Grindstone Parkway Walmart in Columbia, according to ABC 17 News. Per a probable cause statement, two Walmart employees saw Zoeller break into the gun case and take a hunting rifle before allegedly telling them, “I'm going to be taking this.” Police wrote that surveillance video showed Zoeller using a red dolly to break the glass cabinet.
Zoeller allegedly held the gun after grabbing it from the display case, per the probable cause statement, and per an employee statement, he used a red item to smash the glass case. He had a court appearance Wednesday afternoon and is being held at the Boone County Jail with bond set at $50,000.
Why Grabbing a Rifle Escalates the Charges
Missouri law treats this kind of case far more seriously than an ordinary shoplifting charge. Under Missouri Revised Statutes § 569.160, Burglary in the First Degree is a Class B felony carrying a state prison sentence of 5 to 15 years upon conviction, according to the Revisor of Missouri. State case law notes that a person is legally considered armed with a deadly weapon the moment they equip themselves with one during a crime for the purpose of stealing it.
Separately, Missouri automatically classifies stealing a firearm as a Class D felony, carrying a potential sentence of up to 7 years in state prison. That statute bypasses the usual dollar-value threshold that would otherwise make retail theft a misdemeanor. Missouri law also provides for Armed Criminal Action charges under RSMo § 571.015.
Hunting Rifle in the Display Case
The type of weapon involved traces back to a Walmart policy shift years earlier. In September 2019, Walmart announced it would stop selling handgun and short-barrel rifle ammunition and handguns once existing stock sold out, as reported by Forbes. That change came after a string of fatal store shootings that year, when Walmart also began asking customers in open-carry states not to carry firearms inside its stores, leaving store managers discretion to request weapons be stored in vehicles. The cited report does not describe Walmart's point-of-sale or background-check procedures or compare them with the federal standard.
The Grindstone Parkway Supercenter, listed as Store #451 at 1201 Grindstone Pkwy, is one of Columbia's Walmart locations. Missouri law addresses theft and the value of stolen property.
Case Headed to Boone County Court
Zoeller's case will continue through the court process. It remains unclear whether Zoeller was legally prohibited from possessing firearms before the alleged theft, what specific motive he may have stated beyond the comment attributed to him by employees, or whether the Boone County Prosecutor's Office will add firearm possession or Armed Criminal Action counts ahead of his preliminary hearing.
