A Leesburg man has been tracked down in an alleged attack earlier this month on a K-9 officer trying to quell a mob.
A Lake County sheriff’s deputy was on patrol early Sunday southbound on U.S. Hwy. 27 when he saw a 2002 gold Buick with a non-functional tag light. The deputy stopped the Buick on North Shore Drive in Leesburg and made contact with the driver and her passengers.
When the deputy ran the occupants’ names through a records check, the Lake County Communications Center indicated that the backseat passenger, 24-year-old Tramell E. Richardson was wanted on warrant charging him with battering a Leesburg Police Department K-9 officer.
The warrant alleges that Leesburg police were in the process of arresting another man on May 12 when an angry crowd started to protest the arrest. Richardson was taped on the officer’s body camera pushing the K-9 officer as the officer attempted to arrest the wanted man. Once the officers had the wanted man secured, they left the area without arresting Richardson as the crowd was growing more agitated. An informant gave the police Richardson’s name and a records check showed that Richardson’s police photo matched his image on the body camera. The officers obtained a warrant for Richardson’s arrest.
Once the deputy had confirmed the warrant during the traffic stop, he had Richardson exit the car so that he could be handcuffed. The officer saw that Richardson had been sitting on a black fanny pack. When Richardson was asked if he wanted to take the pack to the jail, Richardson became nervous and denied owning the pack, according to the arrest report. A K-9 officer arrived on the scene and his dog alerted on the fanny pack. A search of the fanny pack turned up cocaine and a loaded .40-caliber Taurus pistol. Richardson has previous felony convictions, therefore he was charged with felony possession of a firearm, and possession of a controlled substance as well as the warrant charging him with battery to a law enforcement officer.
Richardson was transported to the Lake County jail where bond was set at $17,000.
