Florida Man's Traffic Stop Takes a Turn After Deputies Find Gold-Plated Rifle and Cocaine
An improper license plate turned into quite a bit more than a routine traffic ticket for a Florida driver after Hillsborough County deputies pulled him over Wednesday evening. By the end of the stop, deputies said they had recovered cocaine, drug paraphernalia, ammunition, a handcuff key, and a gold-colored rifle from the vehicle.
According to the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office, deputies stopped 43-year-old Carlois Hill on North 56th Street near East Busch Boulevard in Temple Terrace shortly before 7 p.m. on September 2. Deputies said they discovered Hill did not have a driver's license and had three previous convictions for driving with a suspended license.
A subsequent search of the vehicle turned up what HCSO described as a gold-plated rifle along with ammunition, cocaine, and drug paraphernalia. Perhaps the strangest item on the inventory was a handcuff key, although the Sheriff's Office did not explain why it was in the vehicle.
HCSO described Hill as a three-time convicted felon and said he was arrested on several felony charges following the stop. What began with deputies noticing an improper license plate had, by the time everything was pulled from the vehicle, become a considerably more serious encounter.
That's a Lot Going On
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Immediately after the Facebook video starts, the officers walk up to a white sedan that appears to be parked in a shopping plaza. When the officers approach the driver's side window, they explain the reason for the stop: they ran the tag, and it came back as the office of the tax collector, meaning that it wasn't supposed to be on the car.
The driver was immediately asked to get out, which he did without any issues. After getting into the police car in handcuffs, the officers checked out his car and were pretty surprised by what they found.
A bag with drug paraphernalia was discovered, but what the officers pulled out of the backseat was probably the most shocking (and funny): a rifle with gold plating and some ammo for it.
Comments and Reactions to the Florida Traffic Stop
While the Sheriff's Office called the recovered firearm "gold-plated," one commenter was more interested in correcting the weapon's description than discussing the arrest. "Henry lever action rifles are polished brass, not gold-plated," they wrote, offering a surprisingly specific bit of firearms commentary underneath the department's post.
Other commenters focused on the deputies themselves, with several congratulating HCSO for making the arrest. One person wrote, "See, no flock, just good police work," while others kept things considerably simpler with "Good job HCSO" and "Good job, keep it going!"
The suspect's prior convictions also prompted some commenters to wonder what happens after the latest arrest. One questioned whether another conviction would simply result in a "4th-time convicted felon" eventually returning to the streets, while another said they hoped prosecutors would pursue the case and secure a conviction.
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