Holmes Beach police arrested a juvenile from Bradenton Dec. 6 on four charges, including a third-degree felony for alleged unlawful carry of a concealed firearm.
He also was charged with first-degree misdemeanors for alleged criminal mischief, obstruction of a law enforcement officer without violence and possession of 20 grams or less of cannabis.
Personal information about juveniles in police reports is exempt from public record.
The arrest followed a traffic stop, when an officer clocked a motorist driving 47 mph in a 25-mph zone in the 4800 block of Gulf Drive around 11 p.m. The officer observed the motorist come close to “colliding with residential mailboxes,” then fail to yield at a stop sign.
HBPD stopped the motorist in the 4000 block of Gulf Drive. The officer observed that the driver, a juvenile, displayed signs of impairment and the officer smelled alcohol and marijuana. The officer also observed a passenger with an open container of alcohol.
An officer handcuffed the driver and placed him in the back of his patrol car.
During a vehicle search, the officers heard banging and loud noises from the patrol car. The juvenile had gotten out of the handcuffs and damaged the vehicle’s rear camera.
The officer removed the juvenile from the patrol car to reapply handcuffs, at which point the juvenile “tense(d) up” to prevent that, so the officers brought him to the ground.
On the ground, an officer realized the juvenile had a handgun in a pocket. The handgun was found to be loaded, with a round in the chamber and the safety off.
When the police resumed a search of the juvenile’s vehicle, they found a case of Twisted Tea, an alcoholic beverage, and two marijuana cigarettes.
While an officer was on the phone with the juvenile’s guardian, he continued to bang around inside the patrol car, so an officer warned him that if he continued, he would be pepper-sprayed. He continued and was pepper-sprayed.
The officer transported him to the police station for decontamination, then to the ER at Palma Sola in Bradenton for medical clearance.
The juvenile was then transported to the Manatee County Regional Juvenile Detention Center.
If tried and convicted as an adult, punishment for a third-degree felony charge includes up to five years of prison, five years of probation and a fine of up to $5,000.
Punishment for a first-degree misdemeanor charge includes up to one year in prison, one year of probation and a fine of up to $1,000.
A juvenile reference for underage possession of alcohol was filed for the passenger.