A landscaper previously convicted of a felony was arrested with a gun after police stopped a pickup with red wrap around its brake lights.
Police observed 63-year-old Mario Mejia Garcia of Howey-in-the-Hills in a silver pickup truck traveling north on South Bay Street at around 8:21 a.m. Thursday, according to an arrest report from the Eustis Police Department.
The officer got behind the vehicle and noticed that the passenger side brake light had a red wrap around the assembly, the report said. As the driver pressed the brakes, a bright white light shone from the passenger side assembly.
The officer initiated his emergency lights to conduct a traffic stop, with the vehicle coming to a stop at North Grove and East Magnolia. He approached the driver and explained the reason for the stop before requesting his driver’s license, the report said.
The driver explained he would take care of the light but that Garcia, the passenger, owned the vehicle. He further stated he was driving Garcia to work because he did not have a driver’s license, the report said.
The driver appeared to be nervous after he gave the officer false registration for another vehicle. He kept looking at the given registration and would not make eye contact. The officer then started to translate in Spanish so he could understand, the report said.
The officer proceeded to ask if there was anything illegal in the vehicle to which both the driver and Garcia advised there was not, the report said. Garcia gave the officer consent to search the vehicle, and he told the officer the vehicle was his but was registered to his daughter.
While searching the vehicle, the officer found a Revolver .22 caliber pistol in the center console with one 12-gauge Turkey load shotgun shell, a 16-gauge Remington shotgun shell and two .410 shotgun shells, the report said.
This discovery led the officer to check the criminal history of the occupants, the report said. As a result, Garcia was found to have one felony conviction for DUI in 2015.
Inside the glove box on the passenger side, the officer located a small plastic bag containing a white substance inside a folder with a notebook attached to it. The substance tested positive for cocaine, prompting the officer to handcuff Garcia and the driver, the report said.
Garcia advised that the firearm was his and that he used it for hunting, the report said. When asked about the notebook, Garcia stated he used it for work documenting what he purchased. He denied any knowledge of the cocaine.
Garcia was then arrested on charges of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, possession of cocaine and engaging in criminal offense with a firearm. He was transported to the Lake County Jail and released after posting $12,000 bond.
