Published: December 04, 2008 01:16 am      

Man jailed for gun theft

A 20-year-old Cherokee County man remained in the Anderson County Jail Wednesday afternoon following his arrest the previous day when authorities say they found him in possession of a stolen pistol.

As of early Wednesday afternoon, Jeremy Jermaine Scott, 20, of Cuney was being held in the jail on a pair of Cherokee County warrants on charges of failure to pay child support and assault causing bodily injury, according to Anderson County Sheriff Greg Taylor.

The sheriff, however, said he expected the local state jail felony charge of theft of a firearm to be filed against Scott in the coming days.

Scott was arrested around 2 a.m. Tuesday near the dam at Lake Palestine after an Anderson County officer questioned he and a female companion parked in a vehicle on the side of FM1892, according to Taylor.

“Sgt. (Ronnie) Foster was patrolling around the area behind the Lake Palestine dam,” Taylor said. “He observed a vehicle sitting on the side of the road, and there were some beer cans laying next to the car and a beer box.”

Occupying the 1990 four-door Hyundai were a 21-year-old female in the driver’s seat and a male later identified as Scott in the passenger’s seat, the sheriff stated.

Foster approached the vehicle and began talking with the subjects, asking if there were “any weapons or contraband in the car,” Taylor said.

At that point, the sheriff said Scott advised the officer “there’s a firearm in front of him that was purchased the same day.”

The sergeant then observed a 9 mm Ruger pistol resting in the front passenger’s floorboard, according to Taylor. The weapon was loaded, the sheriff added.

“By using the serial number, we discovered this was a firearm stolen in Anderson County,” Taylor said.

The sheriff said the weapon was reported stolen from a vehicle in the Frankston area on Oct. 28.

Authorities also discovered Scott was wanted on the Cherokee County warrants, according to the sheriff.

“No other contraband was found,” Taylor added.

Scott was ultimately transported to the Anderson County Jail, while the female was released, according to the sheriff.

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Paul Stone may be contacted via e-mail at pstone@palestineherald.com