Teen arrested for gun store burglary, 34 stolen weapons recovered

A 16-year-old Palm Coast resident was arrested Wednesday for allegedly robbing a gun store, making off with three dozen firearms. He was booked into the Flagler County Jail and charged with armed burglary and theft over $20,000 following a two-month police investigation.

The incident in question occurred on the morning of March 27, when officers received a call from an employee at Pioneer Guns & Ammo, a gun store on US-1 in Bunnell. The employee showed Flagler County Sheriff's Office officers surveillance footage showing a suspect breaking a glass door and slipping through metal bars to enter the store, then breaking into a storefront window. Two long guns and several handguns were stolen during the burglary, all taken directly from Pioneer's sales inventory.

A multi-departmental investigation team was formed to track down the perpetrator, involving staff from the Real Time Crime Center, Crime Scene Investigation, Digital Investigation Team and detectives. A vehicle was identified as possibly the suspect's, and CSI investigators were able to recover blood from the crime scene to aid in DNA work. The attacker apparently cut himself during the break-in.

During their investigation, detectives identified Dale Mesagaes, 16, as their suspect and contacted his mother to question her about the crime. On April 23, the mother said she found the stolen guns, apparently placed in a bag and buried in the ground. 34 of the 37 reported stolen guns were admitted into evidence and then confirmed to be the ones missing from Pioneer Guns & Ammo.

To gather the final evidence needed to arrest Mesagaes, a detective from the digital forensics team found text messages on his phone that apparently linked him to the crime. Later, his blood was compared to that found at the scene. An arrest warrant was issued and Mesagaes was arrested on one charge each of armed burglary and grand theft over $20,000 causing over $1,000 in damage. He was booked into the county jail before being transferred to the custody of the Department of Juvenile Justice.

“Our teams of investigators, CSI and RTCC have worked hard to get these guns off the streets before they can be used in violent crimes,” Flagler Sheriff Rick Staly said of the investigation. “This kid learned the hard way that that was a very bad decision. Because of the dangerous potential of his crime, I hope the State's Attorney charges him as an adult and holds him accountable.

Footage of the break-in and arrest was provided by FCSO: