http://www2.tbo.com/content/2009/jun/11/deputies-find-concealed-gun-during-jail-booking/news-metro/
Report: Deuties twice missed gun being brought into jail
By JOSH POLTILOVE | The Tampa Tribune
Deputies said they found a loaded 9 mm handgun concealed in the underwear of a Tampa man being booked into jail Tuesday afternoon.
A Tampa man under arrest Tuesday walked into Orient Road Jail with a loaded 9 mm handgun concealed in his shorts.
Law enforcement twice missed opportunities to find the gun, according to a police report. Before the man was taken to jail, a Tampa police officer gave him a pat down but didn't find the gun. Later, a Hillsborough County deputy ran a metal detector wand over the man but didn't discover the weapon.
Curtis T. Young Jr., whose nickname is "Bam Bam" according to jail records, was arrested about 2:15 p.m. Tuesday.
Tampa Police Officer Michael D. Cooper asked if Young had a gun, and Young said no, Cooper wrote in an arrest report. Cooper wrote that he gave Young a pat down but only felt a cell phone in Young's pocket.
Young, 22, of 9218 N. 13th St., was placed in a patrol vehicle and was taken to central intake at Orient Road Jail.
At the jail, an intake deputy missed the gun with a metal detector wand because Young had a cell phone in his front right exterior pocket, according to the report. Deputy IndiraHouze, who was using the wand, found the phone but thought that was the only metal item under the clothing and allowed Young into the facility, the report states.
Ultimately, Deputy Richard Sergi found a loaded 9 mm Jennings semi-automatic pistol in L.A. Lakers basketball shorts under Young's blue jeans.
"We re-handcuffed Young and he spontaneously answered, 'It's their job to find it' in response to being asked why he had not told police of the firearm," Cooper wrote in the report. "We escorted him out of my patrol vehicle."
The chamber was loaded, and it had eight more rounds in the magazine, according to the report. Young later told an investigator he found the gun Tuesday and decided to keep it because it seemed valuable.
Young told the investigator that he was holding the gun when the officers came into the yard he was in Tuesday.
"Before he knew it he was under arrest for a drivers license violation," the report states. "He was afraid of what would happen to him if he said he had a gun on him. He said he never wanted to hurt anyone but he was going to try to hide the gun. Young said he got into the jail and was really afraid. When deputy found the gun he just held still and did what he was told. He again stressed that he never wanted to hurt anyone and has never been convicted of a felony."
Cpl. Jim Previtera said he couldn't comment on details since the incident is being investigated by Tampa police and internally by Hillsborough deputies.
Tampa police spokeswoman Andrea Davis confirmed the incident is part of a police investigation but said she could not comment further.
Charges against Young include failure to surrender a suspended license, carrying a concealed firearm and introduction of a firearm into a detention facility.
Booking video will not be released because it is part of an ongoing investigation.
Deputy: So, is that a gun in your shorts or are you just happy to be arrested? 😀
that is sad complacency at it finest. I have heard of that happening before and seen some crazy stuff smuggled in but there is no excuse for that.
