Two men were arrested for stealing a firearm. But was it really stealing? A moron of a Seminole County deputy left his firearm in a gas station bathroom, where it was found by a pair of men. One of them refused to pick it up because he was a convicted felon. The other took it with him and sold it for $40.
Both have been arrested for theft of a firearm, and the ex-felon was charged with possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. If they get a decent lawyer, they just might beat those charges.
- They didn’t steal the gun- it was left in a public bathroom.
- There is no evidence that the convicted felon ever had possession of the handgun.
- The state could argue that they knew it was a crime because they concealed the handgun when they walked out of the gas station, but a decent lawyer will claim that they concealed it because open carry is illegal in Florida.
The only crime that was committed here in my opinion, is that the Deputy left his firearm where anyone could reach it- with the barrel wedged into a toilet paper roll in the stall of a public bathroom. Those two are no more guilty of stealing that firearm than the deputy is in trafficking firearms.
