Blake Hall
Case closed.
The thief? A former Army reservist out on bail on a child rape charge.
This from the Associated Press:
James Walker Morales, 34, of Cambridge, was arrested Wednesday on Long Island, New York. He’s scheduled to make an appearance in federal court on Friday, according to the FBI.
Six M4 assault rifles and 10 Sig Sauer M11 handguns were stolen from theLincoln Stoddard Army Reserve Center in Worcester last weekend. Surveillance video from a nearby business shows a man making several trips between the reserve center and a vehicle parked nearby over a six-hour period Saturday night into Sunday morning. On several occasions, he can be seen carrying duffel bags.
The FBI has said that the theft is not related to terrorism, but officials did not disclose a possible motive.
Rather than the bathroom window, Morales came in through the kitchen window of the facility, and then busted through into the gun vault by mounting it and using a “cutting tool” to yank it wide open (he had to go through several layers of wood and metal, according to the FBI).
Perhaps he forgot or just didn’t care, but Morales was wearing a monitoring bracelet for his rape arrest, which was placed him “directly inside” the building. He also left blood at the scene.
He cut off the bracelet Monday but was hunted down via cellphones to his location in New York.
More from AP:
Morales had last been seen at the Worcester facility last Thursday to obtain copies of his discharge papers. Federal authorities described him as a former Army reservist but did not provide any additional information on his service and did not say whether the guns had been recovered.
In May, Morales was charged with aggravated rape of a child and indecent assault and battery on a person under age 14, according to Allison Brown, assistant district attorney in Middlesex County. The circumstances of that case were not immediately available.
Morales now also faces federal charges of unlawful possession of a machine gun, unlawful possession of stolen firearms, and theft of government property. It could not immediately be determined if he has a lawyer who could comment on his behalf.