- April 18, 2024
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Two young men have been charged with stealing a car, stealing six guns from a home and breaking into multiple cars in Palm Coast's P-Section the morning of Friday, Oct. 13.
Deputies had received multiple reports of car break-ins in the area, plus one home burglary in which multiple guns were stolen from an unlocked garage, according to a news release form the Flagler County Sheriff's Office.
A deputy patrolling the area around Royal Palms and Point Pleasant at about 5:40 a.m. noticed two young men walking down the sidewalk. One was 16 and on probation for a misdemeanor. The deputy arrested him for probation violation because he was breaking curfew. The other young man, Josiah Merriweather, was 18.
When deputies interviewed the two, they confessed to breaking into multiple cars, burglarizing a home an stealing a car.
Deputies canvassed the area for evidence, and a Point Wood Drive resident told detectives that the youths had dropped two backpacks in his yard.
Deputies found four handguns, two smartphones, one iPod, ammunition and gun magazines matching the handguns, a Chrysler key fob, electronic cords, change containers, loose change and other items inside the backpacks.
They also found two more guns in a swale on Poinbury Drive.
All six of the stolen guns had been taken from the unlocked garage on Postman Lane.
Deputies found two stolen cars — a Chrysler Town and Country and a Saturn Due — on Elm Street in Bunnell. They were returned to their owners.
“These two subjects went on a crime spree, but they didn’t get away with it,” Sheriff Rick Staly said in the news release. “An alert patrol deputy along with our detectives did a great job in quickly solving and recovering stolen property. The stolen firearms had the potential for violent crimes in the future or be sold on the black market or traded for drugs. ... These crimes were again crimes of opportunity. I ask our community to lock their cars, don’t keep car keys in cars and keep their garage doors closed. Let’s work together to keep our community safe. I encourage you to watch our most recent crime prevention video ‘Disaster’ on our home page flaglersheriff.com.”
Merriweather was charged with armed burglary and grand theft of a firearm. The 16-year-old was charged with armed burglary, grand theft of a firearm, grand theft auto, petit theft, burglary of a conveyance and violation of probation.
