DHS Warns Ohio Company Sold Counterfeit Ballistic Plates

Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) is looking into an Ohio company accused of selling counterfeit ballistic armor imported from China. The Akron Police Department said it was contacted that its SWAT Team's ballistic shields are compromised.

The department asked the city to urgently help it purchase 40 sets of rifle plates for the SWAT team. The city council has allocated $60,000 to replace the armor, News5 reports,

"In this case we need to replace them all. This, we, became a part of a bigger investigation we were notified by the department of homeland security that the plates that we had were some of those plates that were found to be counterfeit," said Akron Police Captain Micozzi.

The plates were purchased from ShotStop Ballistics LLC in Stow. BBB Akron confirms ShotStop Ballistics LLC was an accredited business from September 2018 to December 2023.

According to court documents, ShotSpot Ballistics LLC just filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy on May 4, citing $642,200 owed to debtors.

#PUBLICSAFETYALERT - If you have purchased ShotStop Ballistics LLC body armor from 2018 onward, for product safety reasons, we recommend discontinuing use and contacting faultyarmor@hsi.dhs.gov . This is an ongoing #HSICleveland investigation, no further info is available. pic.twitter.com/jSJsFYvCqV

— HSI Detroit (@HSIDetroit) November 21, 2023