$100K bail for Medina man accused of stealing, defacing guns

ALBION A Medina man facing 24 counts, including burglary and grand larceny, was arraigned in Orleans County Court today by Judge James Punch, who set bail at $100,000.

Christopher Hollenbeck, 27, allegedly broke into a residence on Mill Road in Ridgeway in June. He is accused of taking nine guns, including several hand guns.

State police say he scratched off the serial numbers on some of the guns, which he then sold with help from his girlfriend Rebecca Bischoff, 26, of Medina.

Punch assigned the public defender for Hollenbeck, who said he isn’t working but would be interviewing for a job.

The District Attorney’s Office requested bail be set at $10,000, but Punch made it higher because the charges against Hollenbeck “are profoundly serious.”

“It looks like you were preparing for Armageddon,” Punch told Hollenbeck. “That’s why I’m setting bail where I’m setting it.”

Hollenbeck faces numerous charges, including one count of second-degree burglary, one count of fourth-degree grand larceny for stealing firearms, three counts of defacing weapons, three counts of criminal possession of a weapon in the third degree, nine counts of criminal possession of stolen property in the fourth degree and five counts of criminal sale of a firearm in the second degree.

Bischoff was arraigned in County Court last week on four counts of criminal possession of stolen property in the fourth degree and two counts of criminal sale of a firearm in the second degree.