Police say the 14-year-old driver of a Buick ran from them, while a felon riding with him had drugs and a gun.
By SHANNON COLAVECCHIO-VAN SICKLER
Published August 7, 2004
TAMPA - An officer patrolling parking lots in Ybor City early Friday discovered a 1986 Buick with an unregistered tag, and ended up arresting a passenger who police say was carrying ecstasy and a loaded 9mm Smith & Weston pistol.
Police said the Buick was driven by 14-year-old Emanuel Watson Jr. In the car with him were Herman J. Williams and Watson's father, Emanuel Watson Sr., who was paralyzed 12 years ago in a shooting.
Officer David Duncan said he stopped the Buick at 20th Street and Palm Avenue at 3 a.m., and had to chase Watson Jr. after he tried to run away. While Watson ran from Duncan, Williams got out of the car and tossed a gun into a nearby hedge, said assisting officer Robert Fannin. Fannin retrieved the gun, which was loaded with 10 hollow-point bullets, police said. Inscribed on the gun were the words "Hampton Roads Regional Jail #061."
The Hampton Roads jail is in Portsmouth, Va., but police said the gun was not listed in the state or national directories of stolen firearms. Police spokesman Joe Durkin said investigators are still trying to determine whether the gun came from the Virginia jail.
Williams, 20, of 6804 Parkview Court, faces charges of possession of ecstasy, possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony and being a felon in possession of a firearm. Watson Jr., of 910 E 26th Ave., faces charges of driving without a license and resisting a law enforcement officer.
In 1992, Watson Jr.'s father was riding his bicycle on Chelsea Street near Middleton High School when two armed men ambushed him. Watson, 18 at the time, was hit in the spine and paralyzed.
