Police Beat: Suspicious driver arrested with loaded weapon on Alumni Drive

Lauren Fox, Managing Editor

Driving around campus around 1:30 a.m. Sunday, a vehicle full of University of North Florida (UNF) students noticed a vehicle with its headlights turned off, allegedly following them as they drove.

Contacting UPD, the driver said they did not feel safe and that the car had been following them without stopping as they drove nearby the UNF campus and down Alumni Drive, UPD wrote.

UPD pulled over the suspicious vehicle near Osprey Cove, and the driver attempted to get out of his car, UPD wrote. The officer told the suspect to stay in his vehicle, but the suspect allegedly continued to get out of his car and try to talk, the report said.

Upon approaching the car, the officer reported noticing the smell of marijuana coming from the vehicle. “His eyes were bloodshot and [he] had the odor of marijuana emitting from him,” although he denied smoking marijuana, according to UPD.

When asked for his license and registration, the suspect handed the officer “numerous other papers,” UPD wrote. The suspect was allegedly “acting erratic,” not following instructions and continuously saying, “you can pop the trunk,” according to the report. UPD decided to search the car.

Under the driver’s seat, UPD found a loaded weapon with a magazine containing 13 rounds, the report said. Officers also reported finding bags of marijuana, a scale and a little over $1,000 in cash.

Officers asked the suspect why he was following the vehicle full of students, but he denied doing so and said that he “was lost,” according to the report.

The suspect was arrested and charged with armed possession of marijuana with the intent to sell within 1,000 feet of a school and driving a vehicle without lights at night, as well as issued a trespass warning, wrote UPD.

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