Early on Wednesday morning, an 11-year-old and 14-year-old set of brothers broke into a gun store in Cape Coral, Florida and stole 22 weapons.
Police officers saw the two young boys run away when they got near the Guns 4 Less store at around 3:00 a.m., and the brothers began to toss the stolen guns as they fled.
Cape Coral Police Master Sgt. Julie Green spoke at a news conference on Wednesday, and said that police officers were able to catch the brothers nearby the store after they ran away in different directions.
"The preliminary investigation revealed that the juveniles cut the power off to the business and forced entry through the rear door," Green said. "While inside they both smashed the display cases, and began ransacking the entire business for a total of 22 guns, rifle and handgun magazines, and various calibers of ammunition. All of the stolen items were accounted for and recovered.
"It should be noted that on June 7 at 3:00 p.m., both [brother's names withheld because of their ages] went into the store and were looking around. The business owner said that they asked them to leave, and they did so without incident."
The brothers did not actually cut the power to the store like they thought they did, Green noted. She said that the store owner got an alert from the security system about the break in and called police.
Green added that the 14-year-old is currently on probation for robbery with a weapon, burglary, and criminal mischief. He was also previously arrested for making threats of harm with a weapon on social media.
They were each charged with 22 counts of grand theft of a firearm, one count of armed burglary, one count of criminal mischief over $1,000, one count of resisting without violence, grand theft, and possession of burglary tools.
Green also said that the 14-year-old was additionally charged with one violation of probation.
"This arrest was possible because of a quick response and apprehension of these criminals by our officers," Green said. "Our detectives are actively linking these individuals to other crimes in the vicinity as well. The arrest prevented a possible critical incident that could have stemmed from these guns being in the wrong hands."
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