Valley pawn shop owner talks about I-10 arrest

PHOENIX (KSAZ) - The owner of a Valley pawn shop is speaking out about the arrest of the I-10 shooter.

"I believe it was Wednesday that DPS put two guns on hold," said Eric Baker.

The past few days have been a whirlwind for Eric Baker, co-owner of Mo Money Pawn in Phoenix. His pawn shop was suddenly making national headlines in connection to the I-10 Freeway Shootings that terrorized valley drivers.

Did they tell the owner why they were taking the guns? "No, they never do," said Baker.

He had a sneaking suspicious when DPS Troopers arrived.

"We usually don't deal with them, we usually deal with Phoenix Police's pawn shop detail, stuff like that, when it was DPS a little light bulb went off in our head that it might have been what it was related to," said Baker.

Investigators say they ballistically tested two guns that were taken from the Mo Money Pawn Shop. Both guns were HiPoint 9mm pistols. Investigators say with the help of the pawn shop they were able to link the gun to Leslie Allen Merritt Junior.

"We have to provide state-issued ID, we get two signatures, we get a fingerprint, and you're always on surveillance, so there is no way I was here, I wasn't here, with the fingerprint there is no getting out of that," he said.

He says on the surveillance camera you clearly see Merritt Jr. arriving at the pawn shop on the evening of August 30.

"He could have sold it on Craigslist, firearms show, even threw it into a canal, but due to due diligence everything got reported, and now he's behind bars," said Baker.

Merrit Jr. is expected to be in court this Friday.