FLAGLER COUNTY, Fla. — A Georgia man wanted on felony charges is now facing federal firearms charges after deputies say he was found with an illegal weapon during a traffic stop.
According to investigators, Benjamin Bowie was southbound on Belle Terre Parkway Nov. 21 when deputies stopped his car for a minor vehicle infraction.
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Deputies said Bowie “was extremely nervous, stumbling through responses, and reaching toward the floorboard.”
According to an arrest report, while deputies were searching Bowie’s car a bag containing two firearms, magazines, and ammunition was found inside the car.
The gun was sent to FDLE Laboratory in Tallahassee to be processed.
On Dec. 17, the lab notified the Flagler County Sheriff’s Office that a Glock 17 handgun seized during the traffic stop had been converted into a “machine gun.”
Flagler County Sheriff Rick Staly said the deputies’ actions stopped a potentially deadly situation.
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“Traffic stops are never ‘routine’ and this case proves it,” Staly said.
Bowie, a wanted fugitive from Georgia, was charged with felony possession of a short barreled firearm, in addition to drug charges.
He is currently being held on no bond.
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