Fallbrook Guns burglar nabbed by dog

The owner of the Fallbrook Guns & Ammo store on Main Street in downtown Fallbrook called 911 a little before 9 p.m. on Wednesday, January 18, 2023. He told police that he could see a burglar in his shop, by remote surveillance video, and that the intruder was breaking into display cases and stealing guns and ammunition.

Local law enforcement made a big response: Sheriff’s deputies and Oceanside police and the California Highway Patrol and a SWAT team and a Crisis Negotiations Team arrived on scene and surrounded the building. More than 20 officers arrived, according to Lieutenant Aldo Hernandez, Main Street was closed off, and “the perimeter of the building was well lit.”

The owner of the business arrived at the police command post and was able to show officers live video inside his store, and officers were able to observe current activity of the prowler. The business owner also provided the numbers of phones located inside the business, which police used trying to make contact with the offender, unsuccessfully.

Reportedly, the intruder was able to get into the gun store by first breaking the window of an adjacent business (which had no alarm), and then he climbed up into the ceiling space, then he made his way over to the gun shop, where he broke through that ceiling to drop down into the gun store.

Authorities tried to communicate with the alleged burglar more than two hours. During the standoff, the alleged burglar used that time to load twelve different weapons with ammunition, and then he carefully stored six weapons in the ceiling or attic of one business, and then he secured six of the loaded weapons on his person, according to a reliable source.

After two and a half hours, the suspect allegedly made a run for it, out of a ground level door, but he was unable to outrun a police canine. The dog did make contact with Guillermo Macias, who “sustained minor injuries during the arrest,” according to a Sheriff’s statement released the next day.

There is cop bodyworn camera evidence in this case, according to attorneys.

The alleged burglar reportedly suffered cuts from the glass he allegedly broke to get into the first building, and bites from the dog. After he was treated at Palomar Hospital, suspect Macias was booked into custody at the Vista jail the next day. The jail website described the suspect as a 29-year-old Hispanic male, 6 feet 2 inches tall and 170 pounds.

One of the original accusations against Macias, willfully harming a police dog, a misdemeanor, has not been charged by the DA’s office. The dog was not seriously injured, according to Lt. Hernandez.

A public Sheriff’s report declared that these items were stolen by the suspect but recovered:

Two Henry Repeating Arms, both model H001, values $400 x 2

One Remington 700 rifle, $745

One Ruger pistol Single-Six, $250.

One Daniel Defense rifle DDM4, $2,000

One Colt pistol Python, $2,400

Five black Glock pistols, values $1,500, $2,500, $850, $1,500, $1,600.

One black Ruger rifle, PC Carbine, $740

One Springfield Armory pistol, TRP operator, $2100

One M&P Shield black 380 pistol, $600

Macias was originally held in lieu of $50,000 bail, but at his first court appearance on Monday January 23, prosecutor Keith Watanabe requested bail be raised to $500,000; this was granted by Honorable judge Matthew Brower.

Macias currently pleads not-guilty to 26 felonies, including burglary and multiple counts of felon in possession of weapons and felon in possession of ammunition.

The defendant has a criminal history in San Diego’s North County. In the year 2015, when he was 21, he pleaded guilty in two cases, one theft and one DUI, both as misdemeanors.

In 2017, Guillermo Macias, then 24, admitted using a knife and “committed an assault on two separate occasions against two different people with force likely to produce great bodily injury.” He admitted two felonies and three other felonies were dismissed in a plea deal, and he agreed to serve six months in local custody. At that time, he listed his home address in the 1200 block of Old Stage Road in Fallbrook, 92028 – about a quarter mile from the location of the gun store.