Reston Man Nabbed With Stolen AR-15 an Hour After Garage Break-In

A 31-year-old Reston man is facing 18 criminal charges after Fairfax County police say a resident's video tip helped detectives track him down within an hour of stealing an AR-15-style rifle from an unlocked car inside an open garage. Junior Gonzales-Coello was arrested just after 2 a.m. on August 18 behind a building in the 11900 block of Bowman Towne Drive, where officers recovered the stolen rifle, magazines, ammunition, knives and brass knuckles among his belongings.

According to a statement from the Fairfax County Police Department, the arrest capped an investigation that began when a resident approached a detective at a National Night Out community event on August 4 and provided video showing Gonzales-Coello breaking into a car. That footage gave detectives the basis to seek arrest warrants and eventually connect him to a string of overnight thefts across Reston, according to FOX 5 DC. The rifle itself had been stolen from the garage on Crescent Park Drive only about an hour before officers caught up with him.

Detectives say the case reaches well beyond that single garage. As of August 20, investigators had linked Gonzales-Coello to two burglaries on the 1900 block of Logan Manor Drive on August 6, a theft on the 12000 block of Taliesin Place on August 14, and the Crescent Park Drive rifle theft on August 18, the outlet reports. Fairfax County police noted that additional charges remain possible as the investigation continues.

Eighteen Counts, Five Outstanding Warrants

The charges against Gonzales-Coello include four counts of vehicle trespass, three counts of burglary, three counts of grand larceny, two counts of vehicle tampering, two counts of petit larceny, two counts of carrying a concealed weapon, one count of larceny from a motor vehicle, and one count of Schedule I/II drug possession, per the Fairfax County Police Department. He was booked into the Fairfax County Adult Detention Center and is being held without bond. Police also served him with five outstanding warrants from another jurisdiction during the arrest, though which jurisdiction issued them has not been disclosed.

This is not Gonzales-Coello's first brush with Fairfax County police. In August 2025, he was charged in connection with an organized retail theft ring accused of stealing more than $20,000 worth of tools during upward of 20 visits to a Home Depot on Reston Parkway, according to the same department. That case brought two counts of grand larceny and two counts of petit larceny, and he was released on a $17,000 bond — a detail that now sits alongside his return to custody roughly a year later, this time accused of taking a rifle from someone's garage.

What Virginia Law Says About Stealing a Gun

Under Virginia Code § 18.2-95, stealing any firearm counts as grand larceny no matter what the gun is worth, a felony that can carry up to 20 years in a state correctional facility or up to 12 months in jail at a court's discretion, according to Virginia law. The two concealed weapon charges he faces separately carry their own penalties: carrying a concealed weapon without a valid permit is a Class 1 misdemeanor for a first offense in Virginia, punishable by up to 12 months in jail and a fine of up to $2,500, per Medvin Law.

A Wider Pattern of Vehicle Thefts

The Crescent Park Drive break-in fits a pattern Fairfax County police have been warning residents about since a public safety push launched in July, urging drivers to lock car doors and close garage doors because unlocked vehicles and open garages remain the primary targets for local property thieves. Police have said visible high-value property left inside unlocked cars tends to draw opportunistic thieves. That local guidance echoes a national trend: a 2026 report from Everytown Research & Policy found that firearms stolen from motor vehicles have become the single largest source of stolen guns in the United States, with more than half of all reported gun thefts nationwide now happening from cars.

Fairfax County also offers tools meant to prevent exactly this kind of theft. The county's Community Services Board runs a “Lock and Talk” initiative that provides free firearm safety locks to residents to encourage secure storage at home and in vehicles. Meanwhile, the Fairfax County Crime Solvers program continues to offer cash rewards for anonymous tips that help identify suspects and secure indictments — the same kind of community cooperation that, in this case, started with a resident walking up to a detective at a neighborhood cookout.