WILDWOOD, Fla. (TND) — A dog walker "noticed broken glass from several windows at the rear of" his friend's home, but it would be years until authorities suspected a young neighbor was responsible.

The arrest report said the homeowner had left “several hours earlier with the home intact and was advised of the burglary by his friend.

“The victim reported a Winchester SPX 12 gauge shotgun had been stolen from his home.”The crime would’ve gone unsolved, except investigators “located a red substance near broken glass on the bedroom window consistent with blood, and utilized a blood specimen collection kit and collected two samples of the suspected blood.”

That all happened in Florida on Feb. 14, 2020.

The next month, authorities sent the samples to the state lab and waited three long years.

Finally, in April 2023, they got word a “match had occurred with the qualifying offender being Hunter Maier.

They requested a cheek swab to compare DNA, and noted, “At the time of this crime, the defendant was a juvenile.”

Authorities got a search warrant for Maier’s DNA and according to the arrest report, “The defendant’s mother stated they would cooperate fully and would have their son at the police department the next week.“The defendant's father spoke with [a sergeant] and stated the defendant would be brought to the police department when he returned from out-of-town work.”

But that never happened, nobody answered the door at the family’s home, and police had to get a second search warrant since the one they had expired.

“The defendant had ample opportunity to make himself available to have the DNA search warrant served,” the arrest report said, “but refused to cooperate.”By then, the victim even said, “He is aware of who the defendant is and that the defendant lives in close proximity to his home. Defendant lives nearly directly behind victim.”

More time passed, but this was a matter of months — not years.

Authorities got an arrest warrant on July 10, 2023, and arrested him on Aug. 6, for burglary of a dwelling while armed.

Maier’s bond was set at $25,000 and he was released after less than 14 hours in jail.

A month ago, on April 17, his lawyer filed an Unopposed Motion to Continue since the “stated sent over a new offer and the undersigned counsel needs time to convey the new offer to the defendant and his parents.”

The lawyer may not have known at the time that Maier got into more trouble, just the day before.

Police near Tampa said the victim was another acquaintance — a former coworker —the crime scene was his pickup truck rather than his home, and the gun that was reportedly stolen was a Glock 48 9 mm firearm.

"Video surveillance was reviewed and captured the defendant as he paced back and forth, and looked around for approximately two minutes before he walked to the victim’s vehicle,” the Hillsborough County arrest report said.Maier reached in and “leaned over towards the center console area.“The defendant stood upright seconds later and was holding a dark object that appeared to be a firearm.”

Authorities got another arrest warrant for Maier on May 10.

Then, last Tuesday, May 14, Wildwood police said they “met the mother in the driveway or the residence that stated Hunter was in his bedroom.“Myself and [a second officer] entered the residence and located Hunter in his bedroom. Hunter was detained and walked outside the residence to my patrol vehicle.”

The next day, prosecutors filed a Motion to Revoke Bond, which was granted.

Maier, now 20, has been in jail ever since.

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