Cops: Felon Tosses Gun In Traffic Stop

A Miami man was free Monday on $6,500 bail after being arrested during a traffic stop in which he was a passenger, and being charged as a convicted felon in possession of a gun.

Yoides Estenoz Perez, 36, was charged with altering the identification on a weapon by removal of serial numbers from a firearm, possession of a firearm by a convicted felon and resisting a law enforcement officer without violence.

A non-operating right tail light on a white Ford truck caught the attention of Sheriff's Deputy Jason Mulligan at about 1:54 a.m. Thursday, he wrote in his report.

He reported he saw a blue plastic bag thrown from the passenger side window of the truck, which then moved forward about 75 yards.

Deputy Max Van D'Huynslager contacted the driver, while Mulligan spoke with the passengers. Mulligan heard a voice coming from the back seat, but didn't see anyone, he reported.

Van D'Huynslager walked back to the area where the bag was thrown and picked it up. Inside the bag he found a .45-caliber Rueger handgun wrapped in white shirt. The serial numbers were sanded down.

All of the four occupants were ordered out of the truck and detained, the report stated.

It was then Mulligan found Perez in the back seat. All of the men denied knowing anything about the handgun or about it being thrown from the truck, the report stated.

When asked why Mulligan could not see Perez when he stopped the truck, the reply was that he was asleep in the back seat. Deputies learned Perez was a convicted felon in the state of Florida. However, the report does not say what he did.