Florida felon caught with loaded stolen gun at courthouse during fake appointment: sheriff

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Robert Suggs (Photo: Volusia County Branch Jail)

VOLUSIA COUNTY, Fla. - A convicted felon was nabbed after he allegedly tried to enter a Volusia County courthouse with a loaded stolen gun for an appointment that didn't exist.

Robert Suggs, who was out on bond for felony animal cruelty at the time of the incident, is now facing additional charges of possession of a weapon by an in-state felon, grand theft of a firearm, carrying a concealed weapon in a prohibited location, and possession of drug paraphernalia after the incident that unfolded at the Volusia County Justice Center on Friday, according to Sheriff Mike Chitwood.

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The 34-year-old was stopped during screening at the Justice Center after security officers noticed a handgun in his backpack that was loaded with a round in the chamber and seven in the magazine, Chitwood said.

When he was detained, he "spontaneously" uttered that the gun wasn't his, and he had planned to return it to his "friend," which he didn't know the real or full name of, nor where he lives, according to an arrest affidavit. Suggs told deputies in a post-Miranda interview that his friend let him use his backpack, but he'd forgotten the gun was inside of it when he went to the courthouse.

Deputies later determined that the gun, a Ruger .22 caliber, was stolen.

The gun was loaded with one round in the chamber and seven in the magazine. (Photo: Volusia County Sheriff Mike Chitwood)

Also in the backpack were a small folding knife, razor knife, felt marker pens, blue Motorola cellphone, clothing, and a blue HP laptop computer, the affidavit said.

Security at the Volusia County Justice Center observed a gun during screening (Photo: Volusia County Sheriff Mike Chitwood)

During a pat-down, a small glass pipe with burnt residue, which tested presumptive positive for meth, was found in his pocket, the affidavit added. Suggs said he found the pipe about 200 yards away from the courthouse and picked it up "because he believed there was methamphetamine" inside it.

Suggs said he was at the courthouse to visit the Public Defender's Office, but officials later learned he didn't have an appointment there.