CAPE CORAL, Fla. - Detectives in Cape Coral are trying to link two juvenile brothers to crimes in the area after the boys were arrested for breaking into a gun shop earlier this week and stealing 22 firearms plus ammunition.
According to the Cape Coral Police Department, officers responding to reports of a burglary in progress at Guns 4 Less saw the 11 and 14-year-old boys running from the store armed with handguns, various calibers of ammunition, magazines and long guns.
Due to the weight of the stolen items, officers say the brothers dropped the guns and fled in separate directions. The 14-year-old did keep an AR pistol and later tossed it nearby. Police caught the boys near the store.
Investigators say the brothers tried to cut power to the store before forcing their way inside through a back door. While inside the store, they smashed display cases and ransacked the entire business.
The store owner got an alert on her phone about the break-in and notified the police.
According to officers, the boys went into the store the day before and were looking around. The owner asked them to leave and says they did so without incident.
Police say 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 to another juvenile through social media.
"The arrest prevented a possible critical incident that could’ve stemmed from these guns being in the wrong hands," stated Master Sergeant Julie Green with the Cape Coral Police Department.
Both suspects have been 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, possession of burglary tools and Felix was also charged with one count of violation of probation.