2 men arrested in auto burglary

Deputies: Daniel Abel, Robert Piet II linked to several car burglaries

St. Johns County Sheriff's Office booking photos of Michael Abel (left) and Stephen Piet II (right)

ST. JOHNS COUNTY, Fla. – Two men were arrested Wednesday afternoon in connection with a vehicle burglary earlier that morning, the St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office said.

Michael Daniel Abel, 24, and Robert Stephen Piet II, 19, are each charged with one count of burglary to a conveyance. Piet faces an additional charge of violation of probation.

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Investigators said they have discovered that the two were also linked to several other burglaries.

Deputies responded early Wednesday morning to a report of two people opening car doors in the Heritage Park neighborhood.

When they arrived, deputies said, several cars were found opened and a white Chevrolet stopped in the roadway drove off when deputies approached the vehicle.

The vehicle went further into the neighborhood, trapping itself, and crashed into several street signs before the driver and passenger abandoned the car in a driveway on Newpark Court, according to the Sheriff’s Office.

K-9s searched the area, finding only a trail of stolen items.

Investigators said they later identified the two and located Abel and Piet at a mobile home on County Road 208.

Inside Piet’s home on CR-208, deputies said, four stolen guns were found, including one that had been reported stolen from a vehicle in the northwest part of the county and another from a burglary in Flagler County.

Abel is being held at the St. Johns County Jail on a $3,500 bond and Piet is being held without bond, according to jail records.

Investigators said they are looking into the other burglaries that the two men were linked to and they face additional charges as the investigation continues.