A convicted Leesburg felon tried to ditch drugs and a gun when he fled a traffic stop for a headlight violation.
A Lake County sheriff’s deputy was on patrol Sunday night when the deputy saw a red SUV with a right front headlight which was not functioning. When the deputy stopped the SUV in the area near the intersection of Pamela Street and Griffin Road, a woman was driving and a man was in the front seat. The woman claimed she had no identification and the passenger seemed “nervous,” according to the arrest report.
As the deputy was talking to the woman, the passenger got out of the vehicle and started to run away. The deputy and other law enforcement officers gave chase. They caught 40-year-old Tony Lorenza Goldwire in a field next to the Macedonia Church of The Living God on Griffin Road. The deputies searched the area and found a .380-caliber pistol and a bag of marijuana which had been apparently discarded by Goldwire while he was running.
When the deputy returned to his patrol car, he found that the woman in the red SUV had fled the area.
Goldwire was charged with resisting arrest, possession of a weapon by a convicted felon, possession of marijuana and tampering with evidence. A records check revealed that Goldwire has 10 prior felony convictions.
Goldwire was transported to the lake County Jail where bond was set at $14,000.
