HCSO: Pickup truck driver tailgates deputy, gets arrested on weapons charges
(HCSO)
TAMPA, Fla. - Deputies arrested a Hillsborough County man on weapons charges after pulling him over for allegedly tailgating a marked patrol car.
The Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office said one of their deputies was getting onto Interstate 75 from Fowler Avenue early Thursday morning when she noticed a pickup truck tailgating her vehicle with its high beams on.
The driver of the white Ford F-150 then crossed all lanes of traffic and began speeding, the sheriff's office said. The deputy said she could not see into the windows due to the truck's illegal tint.
The deputy tried to pull the driver over twice while flashing emergency lights, but the truck did not stop and continued speeding, going around 87 mph, the sheriff's office said.
(HCSO)
When the driver eventually decided to pull over, the deputy found 24-year-old Stephen Michael Frisco behind the wheel with a rifle wedged between the passenger seat and center console. The deputy asked him if the rifle was real and if he had any other weapons in the pickup truck.
Frisco replied that the rifle was real and admitted to having several other guns in the truck, despite not having a concealed-carry permit.
"Frisco was not going hunting, which would have been his only legal exception to having his rifle out," the sheriff's office said.
A search of the truck found three loaded handguns with no cases, plus loaded magazines beneath the center console. Additional loaded magazines were found in the glove box.
(HCSO)
Frisco was arrested for open carrying of a weapon, which is a misdemeanor in Florida, as well as three counts of carrying a concealed firearm. He was also ticketed for failing to dim headlights 300 feet behind a vehicle, and received a warning for speeding and for the tinted-window violation, the sheriff's office said.
"We want to reiterate that in NO WAY were Mr. Frisco's rights violated," HCSO wrote on Facebook. "As a law enforcement agency, we just ask that anyone who chooses to exercise their rights to carry a firearm does so within the law."