Florida Highway Patrol officials need assistance finding a man who fled from a traffic stop earlier this month.
A trooper was driving south on U.S. 441 approaching County Road 326 the night of Aug. 4 when the official ran the license plate on a vehicle. The inquiry showed the registered owner had a suspended driver’s license. The trooper was able to pull over the vehicle at the intersection.
The driver, later identified as Jesse Desmond Jenkins, was accompanied by a passenger, Malachi Ky’ree Shuttleworth. The trooper thought he smelled marijuana in the car and sought assistance.
A Marion County Sheriff’s deputy arrived to help the trooper with the investigation. When the trooper asked Shuttleworth to get out of the vehicle, Shuttleworth pushed past the trooper and ran.
Authorities said Shuttleworth, 19, dropped a firearm. The trooper eventually stopped the foot chase, picked up the gun, and went to the deputy’s aid.
Jenkins, 18, of Citra, was detained and charged with resisting without violence. He has since been released from jail, according to jail records.