MIAMI SPRINGS, Fla. – A Miami Springs police officer found three kids in a car full of weapons with a man who had cocaine, and a convicted felon on probation, records show.
According to the Florida Department of Corrections, Deonte Ward was released from prison in 2023 and he was on probation until Nov. 11.
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Ward, 30, has Miami-Dade County convictions related to drug dealing and lewd or lascivious exhibition in the presence of a corrections employee.
The Miami Springs police officer reported Ward was in a suspicious blue 2007 Mazda on Wednesday with an “obscured” and “illegible” temporary tag.
The police officer followed the Mazda from Lenape Drive and Oriole Avenue until the traffic stop at North Royal Ponciana Boulevard and Starling Avenue, according to a police report on the case.
Jermaine Wilson, 21, was in the driver’s seat, Ward was in the front passenger seat, and the three teens were in the back seat with a loaded AR-15 in plain view, according to the police report.
The AR-25 had a 39-round magazine and there was a loaded Taurus handgun with 9mm hollow-point rounds under the front seat, according to the police report.
A Miami Springs police dog known as K-9 Gunther searched the trunk and found a loaded drum magazine with 20 9mm rounds, an empty AR-15 magazine, and a box of 20 rounds of 5.56 ammunition, according to the police report.
What police officers didn’t find was a record of the Mazda’s registration, according to the arrest report.
After their arrest, correctional deputies booked Wilson and Ward after 11 p.m., on Wednesday. They were at the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center after appearing in court on Thursday, records show.
Ward and Wilson faced charges for leaving a loaded firearm within the reach of a minor and child neglect.
Wilson also faced a charge of cocaine possession while armed and he had a warrant case for the misuse of a temporary tag and for not having a registration. His bond was $3,150.
Ward also faced a charge of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon and he had two warrant cases for his probation violation. His bond was $10,150.