Man charged with stealing $10,000 worth of weapons

The Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office arrested a Sarasota man Thursday and charged him with armed burglary and theft of a firearm.

Deputies say Justin Aaron McFarling, 24, of Sarasota, burglarized a Sarasota business around midnight on July 29 and stole 10 rifles and shotguns with a total value of $10,000, according to the probable cause affidavit. The victim received a call around 12:06 a.m. from his alarm company, but there were no signs of forced entry and the victim didn’t notice anything was missing until Aug. 1 when he dropped off equipment at the business.

The victim said only a few have access to the keys, which includes a cleaning crew.

One of the crew’s employees left keys to the storage area with her boyfriend, McFarling, because he would accompany her to clean the business.

Sarasota detectives found two of the guns at a Manatee County pawn shop. McFarling sold them using his driver’s license for identification and was recorded away from his home during the time of the burglary due to a probationary electronic monitoring device, according to the sheriff’s office..

During an interview at the sheriff’s office on Thursday, McFarling admitted to committing the burglary, investigators said.

He also told investigators that in May he had given a stolen AK-47 to his girlfriend, who then pawned it, according to the affidavit.

McFarling is being held at the Sarasota County jail on $21,500 bond.

This story was originally published August 5, 2016 at 2:18 PM with the headline "Man charged with stealing $10,000 worth of weapons."