Pflugerville gun store break-in: Teens arrested for stealing 34 firearms, fleeing in stolen vehicle
PFLUGERVILLE, Texas - Two teenagers have been arrested in connection with a July break-in at a Pflugerville gun store where 34 firearms were stolen.
One of the teens, at just 15 years old, had two active warrants and an extensive history of burglaries and firearms.
What happened at GT Distributors in Pflugerville?
The backstory:
On July 2 at around 4:30 a.m., Pflugerville police responded to GT Distributors on New Meister Lane about a business alarm. When officers arrived, they saw two people crouching behind an SUV parked in front of the business.
The two got inside the SUV and immediately fled the scene, passing directly in front of officers, who noted that the car had several distinctive characteristics, including a personalized license plate, five-spoke alloy wheels, two large roof-rack cross members, a chrome strip along the lower part of the doors and a distinct blue paint job.
Officers found the front glass door of the business had been smashed by a large rock, and inside multiple firearm display and storage cases had been broken into and shattered glass littered the floor.
Surveillance footage from the store showed two people arriving in a blue Audi SUV parking, backing up into a parking space right in front of the store, then getting out. The two were seen using a large rock to smash into the door glass, then to break into the display cases. The suspects took multiple firearms, hiding them in their pockets.
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They made multiple trips between the display cases and the SUV. They were seen on video unsuccessfully trying to break into more cases with the rock, then fleeing the store. They then got into the SUV and fled the scene.
Police used a license plate reader to try and find the vehicle, discovering that it had been seen in Round Rock about an hour before the burglary. Pflugerville police also learned that an Audi SUV matching the same description had been reported stolen to Austin police and that Cedar Park police were investigating multiple car burglaries from earlier that same morning.
Surveillance footage from one of the burglaries showed someone wearing clothing consistent with what one of the suspects in the gun store burglary was seen wearing. That footage also showed an SUV with a lot of the same characteristics as the stolen Audi SUV.
15-year-old suspect identified from fingerprint
The stolen SUV was later found by Austin police about 2.4 miles from where it was stolen.
Police found multiple fingerprints and one on a door handle came back matching a 15-year-old boy who had a rap sheet and two active warrants.
Pflugerville police went to the Austin ISD Police Department and obtained photos of the 15-year-old from an officer "personally familiar" with the teen, says the affidavit. The officer said he had investigated multiple cases involving the teen and provided PPD with photos from an Instagram account associated with the boy.
The photos were posted over multiple days following the July 2 burglary, showing multiple Glock-branded firearms as well as large amounts of cash and multiple gun accessories including extended magazines and handgrip covers.
Police also uncovered a Telegram account associated with the teen and reviewed paperwork from APD on a robbery at an East Austin apartment complex connected to the teen. Multiple suspects in the robbery fled into two apartments and were identified, one being the teen boy, prompting a request to apprehend him from APD.
Further monitoring of the boy's Instagram revealed a photo of the teen driving a Lexus, posted the same day as APD received a report about a stolen Lexus that was found empty less than half a mile from Gunter Street.
Two days later, on July 27, another photo showed the teen driving an Audi SUV, also reported stolen. The owner reported the SUV also contained a firearm and that he had woken up to find his SUV was missing from his home on Margarita Street. The SUV was later found just a mile away at the Gunter Street apartment complex, so law enforcement placed a tracker on it with the owner's permission.
DPS and APD later stopped the vehicle after a pursuit and found the 15-year-old boy at the wheel. Police also seized a cell phone.
Identifying another suspect
Jacob Vallejo (Pflugerville Police Department)
Pflugerville police then investigated the apartment complex, learning that management had received reports from a neighbor fearing for their safety after seeing multiple firearms with people associated with one particular unit. Multiple residents also reported seeing many people loitering outside the building the unit was in.
Police learned that 17-year-old Jacob Vallejo lived in the unit with his stepbrothers and mother and had been arrested as part of a May 2026 robbery at the complex. Surveillance footage showed the same stolen Audi that the 15-year-old had been driving repeatedly visiting the building and multiple people entering and leaving the unit over a 24-hour period on July 27.
The AISD police officer also told Pflugerville police that the unit had been previously searched due to social media threats, allegedly made by Vallejo.
More car burglaries
Pflugerville police also received a Hays County Sheriff's Office Be On the Lookout (BOLO) on Aug. 3, asking fellow law enforcement agencies to help identify suspects in multiple car burglaries in the Sunfield subdivision in Buda on July 27.
The BOLO said that surveillance footage showed four people: a driver, two female suspects and one male suspect. The three suspects were seen trying to get into multiple cars. The images included in the BOLO matched images of the suspects and vehicle seen at the Gunter Street apartment complex.
Search warrant
On Aug. 13, police executed a search warrant on the Gunter Street apartment and spoke with Vallejo, who told police and ATF that guns were inside the apartment, and they were being "held for a friend." He confirmed to police that the "friend" was the 15-year-old teen, the affidavit says.
When asked if the guns were stolen, he allegedly replied, "Uh, I mean, I would say they are reported stolen because it's your car hopping them;" ‘car hopping’ refers to when vehicles are stolen for short periods of time to avoid being caught by police.
Vallejo also allegedly stated there was more than one firearm in the home with a "switch," an illegal device allowing the Glock to fire continuously while the trigger is held.
Two Glock handguns, a 9mm Palmetto State Armory handgun, 332 rounds of ammunition and multiple magazines and gun cases were recovered from the apartment.
What's next:
At the time of his arrest, the 15-year-old suspect had two active warrants for robbery and carrying a prohibited weapon. He also had several previous arrests for burglaries and firearms.
The 15-year-old's identity is being withheld due to his age. He was taken into custody and transported to the Gardner Betts Juvenile Facility.
Vallejo has been charged with state jail felony theft of a firearm and third-degree felony prohibited weapon. His bond has been set at a collective $15,000 for both charges.
His bond conditions include staying 200 yards away from the story, having electronic monitoring and supervision, surrendering all firearms and having no contact with his 15-year-old co-defendant.
The Source: Information in this report comes from Travis County court documents and records.