A convicted felon was detained early Monday morning after deputies discovered a loaded weapon in the pickup truck’s glove box during a traffic stop near State Road 44 and Interstate 75.
Thomas Logan Renckley, 38, of Jacksonville, was arrested just after 1 a.m. at the Pilot gas station in Wildwood.
According to an arrest report from the Sumter County Sheriff’s Office, a K-9 deputy initiated the stop after noticing a gray Toyota pickup truck carrying a trailer eastbound on State Road 44. The trailer was transporting a Chevrolet Malibu with no activated taillights.
Renckley, who was riding in the front passenger seat, disembarked the truck, left the door wide open, and stepped into the convenience store as soon as it arrived. He later returned to the site, carrying items.
Meanwhile, a K-9 unit named Kruze conducted a free-air sniff of the pickup vehicle and detected the presence of narcotics. When a deputy notified the truck’s three occupants that the car would be searched, Renckley impulsively stated that there was an “item” in the glove compartment. He claimed the item did not belong to him but admitted to seeing it earlier in the day.
When deputies opened the glovebox, they discovered a black object. A 40-caliber Taurus handgun rests directly on top of the compartment’s contents. The weapon did not have a casing, but it did contain a magazine and one bullet in its chamber. Deputies also found a pellet gun in the trunk of the Malibu being towed.
A criminal background check by dispatch revealed that Renckley is a convicted felon in the state of Florida.
He was detained on a felony charge of possessing a weapon or ammunition while a convicted felon. He was booked into the Sumter County Detention Center on a $20,000 bond.
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