![\"Jateek](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/REG-L-straw-01.jpg\")
Jateek Santiago of Reading is wanted in connection with an alleged straw gun purchasing operation. (Courtesy of Berks County district attorney\u2019s office)<\/p>\nThe Berks County Gun Violence Reduction Task Force has arrested six Reading residents linked to what investigators are calling a firearms straw\u00a0 purchasing operation.<\/p>\n
Straw purchasing is the act of legally buying firearms on behalf of individuals who are legally prohibited from possessing them.<\/p>\n
The task force is led by detectives from the Berks District Attorney John T. Adams\u2019 office in partnership with the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, state and Reading police, Berks County Probation and Parole and other local law enforcement agencies.<\/p>\n
Task force officials gave this account:<\/p>\n
The investigation originated from an April 2025 case in which a .40 caliber Glock handgun was recovered in the 600 block of Locust Street during the arrest of Elvis Hernandez-Gonzalez, who was charged by Reading police with attempted homicide. Detectives traced this weapon back to a straw purchase operation, leading to the identification of Wilson Rivera, 24, of the 1100 block of North 13th Street.<\/p>\n
Rivera is alleged to have acted as a primary part of the operation, intentionally funneling firearms into the hands of ineligible individuals and minors. The investigation revealed that Rivera purchased the weapon recovered from Hernandez-Gonzalez and then falsely reported it stolen to police to conceal his involvement.<\/p>\n
Joanna Vazquez, 41, of the 800 block of North 10th Street, is a convicted felon prohibited from possessing firearms. She provided Rivera with cash to purchase a handgun for her son Jonathan, 16. Rivera went to a Berks County gun dealer, falsified state and federal background check forms and purchased a firearm that was illegally transferred to Vazquez and the minor.<\/p>\n
On Dec. 4, Jateek Santiago, 31, of the 700 block of Franklin Street, orchestrated a home invasion in the 700 block of Franklin Street. Santiago, who is prohibited from possessing a firearm, held a gun to the victim\u2019s head and fired a round into the apartment wall before fleeing. He had two accomplices. Investigators determined that Vazquez conspired with Santiago to plan the robbery and provided her vehicle for the getaway. Vazquez\u2019s 16-year-old son was identified as one of Santiago\u2019s accomplices.<\/p>\n
On Feb. 16, Reading police arrested Javon Richardson, 18, of the 600 block of North 11th Street, who was found in possession of another handgun that was purchased and illegally trafficked by Rivera. It had been equipped with an illegal switch that converts the semi-automatic firearm into a fully automatic machine gun. The weapon was loaded with a 29-round extended magazine.<\/p>\n
On Thursday Berks County Detectives apprehended Joanna and Jonathan Vazquez in Reading, PA without incident. They are both being held pending arraignment.<\/p>\n
Jateek Santiago of Reading is wanted in connection with an alleged straw gun purchasing operation. (Courtesy of Berks County district attorney\u2019s office)<\/p>\n
Santiago is a fugitive, and his whereabouts are unknown<\/p>\n
Rivera\u2019s charges include firearms violations, corruption of minors and false reports to law enforcement.<\/p>\n
Santiago is charged with robbery, burglary, criminal trespass, simple assault, illegal possession of a firearm and criminal use of a communication facility.<\/p>\n
Joanna Vazquez is facing firearms charges, corruption of minors, endangering the welfare of children and possession with intent to deliver marijuana. Her son is being charged as an adult with robbery, burglary, criminal trespass, simple assault and illegal possession of a firearm.<\/p>\n
Richardson is charged with firearms charges and resisting arrest.<\/p>\n
Adams applauded the investigators for their work.<\/p>\n
\u201cStraw purchasing is a significant driver of gun violence in our communities,\u201d he said. \u201cWe will not tolerate individuals who exploit the legal firearm purchasing systems to arm criminals and fuel violence. These arrests show how the Berks County Gun Violence Reduction Task force is aggressively targeting the illegal supply chain, from the straw purchaser who puts guns into prohibited hands, to the individuals who then use them in criminal activity.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Berks County Gun Violence Reduction Task Force has arrested six Reading residents linked to what investigators are…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":174219,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[202,182,139,128,130,129,706],"class_list":{"0":"post-174218","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-reading","8":"tag-crime-and-public-safety","9":"tag-local-news","10":"tag-news","11":"tag-reading-city","12":"tag-reading-city-headlines","13":"tag-reading-city-news","14":"tag-top-stories-reg"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/174218","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=174218"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/174218\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/174219"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=174218"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=174218"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=174218"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}