A Leesburg man with a felony history was arrested when an officer found a loaded handgun under his passenger seat during a traffic stop.
An officer saw a blue passenger vehicle traveling east on Crosby Street from East Street around 2:15 p.m. Wednesday, according to an arrest report from the Leesburg Police Department. He began to follow the driver, later identified as 42-year-old Ernest Graham, as he made an abrupt turn when he saw the officer.
As the officer was behind the vehicle, he could see Graham was not wearing a seatbelt. He then turned on emergency lights for a traffic stop. But the vehicle did not immediately stop, instead continuing through the backyard of a residence on the southern corner of a dead-end, the report said.
The vehicle was still moving as Graham reached toward the passenger-side floorboard. He eventually stopped in the backyard, and the driver’s side door opened. The officer identified himself as police and ordered Graham to stay in the vehicle. After three commands, he sat back inside the vehicle and closed the door, the report said…