Photo: Polk County Sheriff’s Office (2)
A Florida woman’s arrest on theft charges for handing the guns of her allegedly abusive husband over to police has become a flashpoint in America’s ongoing gun violence crisis.
While on the call, her husband allegedly rear-ended her bumper multiple times, according to the affidavit,LKLDNow.com reports.
Courtney knew he had guns, and while he was in jail, she went into his locked apartment and took his pistol and a handgun and then turned them over to the Lakeland Police Department.
“She heard a judge say he could not possess the weapons, and she did not trust he would do anything about it,” her attorney Lawrence Shearer toldThe Ledger.
In her arrest report, an officer asked the 32-year-old mother of two if she was admitting that she had gone into her husband’s locked apartment and robbed him.
“Yes,” she said, in the arrest report documents. “He wasn’t going to turn them in so I am doing it.”
The arresting officer called her ex — who was in custody — and her ex said he wanted to press charges.
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“My concern is this is an example of the victim just not being taken seriously,” her divorce attorney Art Fulmer toldThe Ledger.
“We could have certainly tried to make contact with him and say, ‘We understand you’re under this order from the judge and if you have weapons we’d like you to surrender them,’” Garcia told the paper. “But we weren’t given that opportunity.”
Democratic State Rep. Anna Eskamani sent a letter to State Attorney Brian Haas urging him not to prosecute,The Ledgerreports.
Assistant State Attorney Jake Orr tells PEOPLE, “We have received that letter. We certainly will take it into account,” and says the office is reviewing the case.
source: people.com
