Photo: Philip Andrew Wilson
A Mountain Home man found with a defaced firearm after a traffic stop claims he was carrying the weapon for protection from “COVID.”
According to an incident report from the Mountain Home Police Department (MHPD), 28-year-old Philip Andrew Wilson was arrested Sunday after the traffic stop on Spring Street. He was booked in the Baxter County Detention Center on charges of possession of a firearm by certain persons, meaning he is a convicted felon, as well as possession of a defaced firearm and theft by receiving.
The arrest followed Arkansas Game & Fish Officer Todd Haskins witnessing an SUV allegedly running a stop sign and almost crashing into his vehicle at the intersection of Spring and Redbud streets. Haskins began pursuit with his blue lights flashing, but the driver did not stop, until the vehicle reached the intersection of Spring and Russell.
The driver provided an ID card identifying himself as Wilson but did not have a valid driver’s license. Wilson told the officer he had a driver’s license, “he just hadn’t gotten it reinstated yet.” Officer Haskins asked Wilson if there were any weapons in the vehicle, with the man responding with an expletive and explaining he was a convicted felon.
The officer found a 9-millimeter pistol on the floorboard of the SUV with a loaded magazine and one round in the chamber. The gun’s serial number was defaced. Officer Haskins asked why Wilson was carrying the pistol, with the Mountain Home man allegedly saying “he needed it for protection.” When the officer asked what Wilson needed protection from, the man replied, “COVID.”
Officer James Tilley from the MHPD responded to transport Wilson to the jail and located a plastic case for the gun, which happened to contain the weapon’s serial number. A database check revealed the gun had been reported stolen in Memphis.
Wilson was released on $25,000 bond later Sunday afternoon.
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