ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. – Two Florida men are behind bars and will face charges in connection to the burglary of more than 40 firearms from a storage unit in Orange County earlier this year, according to the sheriff’s office.
Jonathan Tackett, 36, and Raven Shaffer, 29, are accused of being the two suspects seen on surveillance video prying open the doors to a storage facility along East Colonial Drive early May 6 and leaving out the back, pulling along luggage stuffed with weapons stolen from the unit of a Federal Firearms Licensee.
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According to the affidavit for Tackett’s arrest warrant, anonymous tips began to come in on May 25, some days after Crimeline on May 19 issued a bulletin that included the surveillance footage. Most of the tips that Crimeline received had to do with Tackett, the sheriff’s office said.
Investigators then focused on Tackett. Within the month, a deputy who claimed to have had multiple prior interactions with Tackett gave their own reassurances that he was who appeared on video recorded at a nearby Circle K around the time of the burglary.
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On June 1, a transient man staying in the area of Bonneville Drive and Bridgeway Boulevard — arrested to face drugs charges — was found with one of the stolen guns in his tent, deputies said. The man told investigators that the gun wasn’t his, rather it had been brought there by an individual called “JT” who had allegedly told others at the transient camp about his part in the burglary. The man was shown the surveillance footage from the Circle K and confirmed Tackett was pictured, the affidavit states.
Additional surveillance video from the storage facility allegedly showed Tackett and Shaffer at the business around three hours before it was broken into, deputies said. On the video, Shaffer unsuccessfully attempted to use a keypad on a locked door to the outside, deputies said.
On June 19, a woman in custody of Orange County Corrections — described in the affidavit as a known associate of Tackett’s — told investigators that Tackett was a suspect in the burglary. The woman claimed Tackett had been talking about the burglary for several months prior, asking around for others to help him.
Warrants were issued out of Orange County for Tackett and Shaffer.
Tackett was arrested June 26 and will face charges of grand theft with a firearm in the third degree, grand theft between $20,000 and $100,000, armed burglary of a structure and criminal mischief, records show.
Shaffer was arrested July 25 in Seminole County in an unrelated case, with his Orange County warrant attained while at the jail.
It’s expected Shaffer will be transferred to Orange County to face charges of grand theft in the second degree, grand theft in the third degree, armed burglary of a structure and criminal mischief, the sheriff’s office said in a statement to News 6.
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