ACSO makes arrests in ArchAngel burglary case

The Alachua County Sheriff’s Office (ACSO) has arrested two men in connection with the Nov. 25 break-in and burglary of the ArchAngel Gunsmithing and Outfitters store in Newberry.

According to ACSO spokesperson Art Forgey, on Dec. 15 ACSO deputies arrested 21-year-old, Wesley G. Addison of Alachua in connection with the burglary. He’s being held at the Alachua County Jail on a $700,000 bond. 

Warrants were also issued for 27-year-old Alan Manning of Gainesville for the burglary. Investigators were initially unable to locate Manning, but they arrested him Friday at his home. He’s being held on a $1 million bond. 

Over the Thanksgiving holiday thieves used a stolen truck to pull the front doors off the shop on Newberry Road in downtown Newberry.

That vehicle was later recovered in Gainesville after being set on fire.

According to co-owner Casey Mason, who spoke with Mainstreet Daily News at the shop two days after the burglary, she and husband Lee Mason had just checked on the store on their way home from a Thanksgiving celebration with family.

Ten minutes later, their security company notified them that the door had been opened.

When the couple returned, they discovered the door off the hinges and five firearms, including four assault rifles and one hunting rifle, had been stolen from the store, according to ACSO reports.

The Masons alerted the ACSO of the break-in. Casey said deputies said the thieves had stolen the utility truck from a hydraulics company in Bradford, then allegedly robbed a vehicle in High Springs and tried the same tow rope technique on a freestanding ATM before arriving at the gun shop in Newberry. The ACSO later confirmed that sequence of events.

According to the police report, along with the five firearms, the thieves also stole construction equipment such as a rotary lift pedal, hydraulic lift pumps, and miscellaneous items valued at more than $4,000. In total they made away with more than $13,000 in items.

Forgey said both men have a “long laundry list of charges against them,” including grand theft. Forgey said the investigation is ongoing and more charges are possible.