A homeless man found sleeping in a truck was arrested after police spotted a handgun within his reach.
An officer responded early Wednesday to a residence on Orange Avenue after receiving a report of three individuals sleeping in a white Dodge pickup truck in the driveway, according to the arrest report from the Tavares Police Department.
The reporting party said the owner was out of town and, as far as he knew, no one was supposed to be there. He said he knocked on the truck door to awaken the occupants but was unable to rouse them, the report said.
Upon arrival, the officer approached the vehicle, which was not running, and saw the driver’s window was down. He observed 28-year-old Bradley Mullan asleep in the driver’s seat and two others asleep in the passenger and back seats. The officer tried to wake up Mullan, who opened his eyes for a second and then closed them without acknowledging the officer, according to the report.
The officer tried waking up Mullan again and asked him what he was doing. Mullan said he was looking for his boat and that it had sunk in Lake Griffin. However, the officer informed him that the lake behind the residence he was parked at was Lake Eustis. Mullan responded that he had permission to be there, a statement that was later proven to be false, the report said.
At that point, another officer arrived on scene and approached the passenger side. Due to his height and position of elevation on the driveway, the officer was able to see a handgun in the center of the dash below the radio. The occupants of the vehicle were removed from the vehicle and detained, according to the report.
Upon further inspection, the arresting officer found the handgun, an HK 9mm. The handgun had the magazine inserted and contained live 9mm ammunition, but it did not have a round in battery. It was readily accessible to both front seat occupants, the report said.
While searching Mullan, the officer found a glass stem, or pipe, commonly referred to as a “one hitter” and used for smoking narcotics, in his left pocket. The pipe had black residue in it and appeared to have some burnt marijuana on one end of it. Also found were a few broken stems in the driver’s door panel pocket, all of which contained black residue and some copper scrubby material commonly used as a filter, according to the report.
Two additional handguns were located on the floor of the rear passenger compartment. Both handguns were in closed cases and not loaded. The officer also found a clear plastic bag in the glove box that contained a bunch of unused clear plastic bags and one clear plastic bag containing a white powder. There was also a container of baking powder in the glove box, the report said.
The powder in the bag was later found to be baking powder, with Mullan stating the bags and baking powder were just for a joke. He said the handguns in the vehicle were registered to him and that he did not possess a concealed weapons permit, according to the report.
Once the other two occupants were cleared of any violations, they were released from the scene. Mullan, however, was placed under arrest, the report said.
While on the way to the Lake County Jail, Mullan spontaneously said he was unaware that he could not transport a firearm like that, and that it was OK in his native Vermont. He said he recently had an encounter with law enforcement in which he had the same handgun on the dash, and he was told not to keep it like that. Mullan said he was carrying the handgun in his pocket and removed it to get some gum before falling asleep again, according to the report.
Mullan, whose address was recorded in the police report and jail records as homeless, was charged with unlicensed carrying of a concealed firearm. He was transported to jail, where bond was set at $2,000.
