HOMESTEAD, Fla. — Homestead Police officers arrested a man reportedly making threats inside of a Publix, and said they discovered a loaded firearm and bags of drugs after taking him into custody.
“We had an altercation where somebody threatened to shoot one of the patrons here at the store,” said Homestead Police chief Mario Knapp.
According to an arrest report, it happened just before 10 a.m. Monday at the Homestead Town Square Shopping Center at 891. N. Homestead Blvd.
The suspect, identified as Ashton Cawley, 29, of Miami Gardens, was discovered in a bathroom stall by the first responding officer.
Body-worn camera video shows the officer ordering Cawley to the ground before others arrive. They eventually lead him out of the store in handcuffs.
Knapp said officers recovered a loaded 9 mm handgun with a regular magazine and an extended magazine, as well as bags of suspected marijuana and a digital scale.
Body camera footage showed items being pulled from a backpack left in the stall.
“It could have been a lot worse,” said Knapp. “We don’t know the guy’s intention. He’s got a criminal past. It doesn’t seem normal for someone to be walking around with a backpack with that amount of drugs.”
Cawley faces a charge of armed cannabis possession with intent to sell.
He went before a judge on Tuesday, where he was granted a $1,000 bond.
As of Tuesday afternoon, Cawley remained behind bars at the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center.
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