Arrest made in connection with Worcester armory theft

Authorities have arrested a man for stealing weapons from the Lincoln W. Stoddard U.S. Army Reserve Center in Worcester.

A 34-year-old man was arrested in the weekend theft of 16 rifles and handguns from a U.S. Army Reserve Center in MA, federal law enforcement officials said on Thursday. The Army Reserve said 10 9mm pistols were stolen, along with six high-powered rifles.

They claim DNA obtained from those stains was a match for Morales, who had been wearing a monitoring bracelet after he was charged with child rape back in May.

Morales allegedly broke a window in a kitchen to enter the armory and then climbed on top of the weapons vault and used a power saw and pry bar to cut through its ceiling, according to an Federal Bureau of Investigation affidavit.

Preliminary review of location information from the electronic monitoring device, Morales was inside the armory for several hours on the night the weapons were stolen, according to the affidavit.

The break-in first came to light when an employee spotted smoke coming from the building early Sunday morning and called 911.

“There is no indication that these missing weapons are connected to any kind of terrorism threat whatsoever at this time”, an Federal Bureau of Investigation spokeswoman said.