Raul Garcia, 21, a certified MS-13 gang banger, was arrested in Florida for wielding a Norinko SKS AK-47 rifle at drivers, police said.
Garcia was taken into custody Monday morning after police searched for him overnight in Wimauma, according to Cpl. Lawrence McKinnon, a spokesman for the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office.
McKinnon said Garcia allegedly threatened motorists with the weapon as they passed by.
Garcia stood shirtless on a street corner in shorts and held the gun as he shouted at drivers and jumped in front of cars to try and get them to stop, police said.
Police were called to the scene around 6 p.m., in the area of Lenfred Drive and Palmetto Road in Wimauma, after reports came in of a man with a gun. Police saw Garcia but he fled on foot into the woods.
A search for Garcia continued through the night.
McKinnon said: “Deputies assisted by K-9 and a HCSO helicopter then searched the wooded area.”
Police recovered the rifle and the bag that Garcia was carrying. The bag contained three small baggies with a white substance that tested positive for methamphetamine, along with four meth pipes and five live .38 caliber rounds.
Garcia was apprehended hours later on Highway 301 South near SR-674 in Wimauma and arrested on charges of improper exhibition of a firearm, possession of methamphetamine, felon in possession of a firearm, loitering and resisting arrest.
Garcia, who is a U.S. citizen, was booked into the county jail where he was being held Tuesday on a $13,750 bail. McKinnon said the rifle had not been reported stolen.
