A Kissimmee man who went to a Polk County Sheriff’s Office station to retrieve a firearm taken during a traffic stop ended up back in custody after deputies discovered an active felony warrant for his arrest.
The incident began when deputies pulled over 21-year-old Tommy Hernandez of Osceola County due to dim vehicle lights and an unreadable license plate, according to Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd.
According to Judd, Hernandez stepped out of his vehicle and confronted deputies immediately after being stopped.
“We said, ‘Hey dude, calm down, chill out, it’s no big deal, have a seat in your car,'” Judd said. “He wouldn’t do that. So we asked him to identify himself… he wouldn’t do that. He got in our face, wouldn’t comply with the investigation, and was arrested.”
Following the arrest, deputies located a .32-caliber Glock handgun inside the vehicle. Because Hernandez was not a convicted felon and legally owned the firearm, deputies placed the weapon into property storage for safekeeping rather than leaving it in the vehicle during the tow inventory.
After bonding out of jail, Hernandez contacted investigators to arrange the return of his firearm. Deputies instructed him to come to the agency’s Ridge District station to sign property release paperwork.
Before Hernandez arrived at the station, investigators conducted a routine background and warrants check. The check revealed that Hernandez had acquired an active felony warrant out of neighboring Orange County for uttering false bank bills.
When Hernandez arrived at the Ridge District station expecting to retrieve his handgun, deputies placed him under arrest on the outstanding Orange County felony warrant and returned him to jail.
“If he’d have just been nice in the first place, he’d have never had any interaction with us other than get your tag and your light fixed—no arrest, no tickets,” Judd said.
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