An 18-year-old Eustis man was arrested Thursday night after he reportedly took a stolen handgun to a high school football game.
Amarieon Thomas Preston, of 500 Glover St., was charged with grand theft of a firearm, possession of a firearm on school property, and carrying a concealed weapon without a permit.
At around 8:30 p.m., Eustis police officers responded to Eustis High School, 1300 Washington Ave., where school resource officers had Preston detained. The resource officers said a witness reported a person with a gun on the campus during the high school football game, according to the police report.
The witness described the suspect as a black male wearing a skull cap, a black sweatshirt, and grey sweatpants. She said as she walked past the suspect, she saw the imprint of a handgun in his waistband but she never actually saw a gun. The witness pointed at Preston and said he was the person with the gun, the report said.
One of the resource officers asked Preston to step away from the crowd and then asked him if he had any weapons on him. Preston said he did not, so the officer patted him down. During the pat-down, the officer felt the butt of a handgun at the front of his waistband. He told Preston not to move and he removed the firearm. Preston was placed in handcuffs and escorted him off school grounds, according to the report.
The firearm was a Shadow Systems MR920 with 13 rounds in the magazine and one in the chamber. The gun was one of nine reported stolen out of Mount Dora in July. A criminal history check showed Preston had a clean record. Officers searched Preston’s car and no other firearms were found, the report said.
After being read his Miranda warning, Preston told officers he had the firearm because he has problems with some of the kids from Mount Dora High School and he feared for his life. Eustis was playing Merritt Island – not Mount Dora – on Thursday night.
Preston was taken to the Lake County Jail, where he was released early Friday on $6,000 bond. He is scheduled to appear in Lake County Court on Oct. 31.
