A 26-year-old Ocala man was taken into custody after deputies said he threw a stolen handgun into the bushes while being pulled over on a scooter.
On Wednesday, July 15, at around 6:45 a.m., a Marion County Sheriff’s Office corporal was stopped near the intersection of E Highway 40 and SW 27th Avenue when a scooter was observed. The corporal noted in the arrest report that the scooter’s registration decal had expired in April 2025, prompting the corporal to initiate a traffic stop.
The scooter pulled into a parking lot located in the 2700 block of E Silver Springs Boulevard. As the vehicle came to a stop, the corporal reportedly observed the driver, later identified as Yuan Smit Prevost Martinez, throw a firearm into the bushes on the south side of the lot…