Fairfax County police have charged a 14-year-old Centreville boy with burglary and grand larceny in connection with the theft of firearms from a neighbor's house.
Centre View is not releasing the boy's name since he is a juvenile, nor the exact neighborhood where the incident occurred, since he and the victim live on the same street.
Det. Lincoln Kieffer presented details of the case in a March 24 affidavit for a search warrant to seek evidence in the teen's home. He stated that, on March 5, a Centreville resident told police that someone had broken into her house. Investigation revealed that entry had been made through a basement window, some time between 4-7:30 p.m., and the thief had fled through the front door, leaving it ajar as he left.
"THE VICTIM reported that a portable DVD player, two Glock handguns, four ammunition magazines belonging to the .45-caliber Glock handguns, a black leather holster, a Crossman BB gun and .45-caliber ammunition were stolen," wrote Kieffer. "The ammunition is described as Black Talon, Federal Hydro-Shock and Ball."
The detective wrote that the suspect is someone that a family member of the victim's had known for a few months. Some three to four weeks before the burglary occurred, noted Kieffer, the boy came over to the house and asked the family member if there were any guns there.
"[The family member] did acknowledge that her family owns firearms, but she did not tell [the boy] what type," wrote the detective. "[The boy] entered the house and began to search the house for the guns. At one point, [the family member] blocked [his] way, and he moved her aside to continue his search."
"[He] told her that he wanted to buy the firearms from her and that she could make a lot of money if she sold them," wrote Kieffer. "[The boy] offered her $500-$800 for the guns. [He] said he wanted to give them to a friend ... who was a 16-year-old drug dealer from Manassas and needed the guns for protection."
The family member refused to cooperate with the boy, but he continued to search the house. He even went into the basement and observed the window through which police say he later entered.
"[The boy] told the family member that he could make it look like a break-in so that [the homeowners] would not have to know about her involvement," wrote Kieffer. "[The family member] informed me that she never showed [the boy] the guns and advised [him] they were not for sale."
THEN, DURING the week of March 17-24 — two weeks after the break-in and theft — Kieffer developed a confidential informant who told him that, "following the burglary, [the boy] was observed handling, showing and displaying Glock .45-caliber firearms to several different persons on different occasions in public places."
Also during that week, wrote Kieffer, still another person contacted him to say that he'd discovered two Glock firearms, .45-caliber ammunition, a black leather holster, a BB gun and three Glock .45-caliber magazines in his house.
This person gave the property to Kieffer and, he wrote, "The firearms were identified and confirmed by serial number as the same firearms stolen in the burglary. The holster, ammunition, BB gun and three ammunition magazines were also from the burglary."
The fourth magazine with ammunition was not included with these items, but Kieffer later traced it to the person's son — who told the detective that the boy who'd stolen it had hidden it under his bed. Police then arrested the 14-year-old boy and charged him with burglary and grand larceny. He's scheduled to appear, later this month, in Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court.