A 44-year-old man was arrested earlier this week for allegedly stealing a pistol from a residence in southeast Ocala.
On Wednesday, January 24, Marion County Sheriff’s Office deputies were dispatched to a home located on SE 114th Avenue in Ocala in reference to a stolen firearm. The female victim advised that she had last seen her firearm, a silver-and-black Ruger Security-9 pistol, in early December, according to the arrest report.
The victim advised that she discovered that her firearm was missing on Monday, January 22, and she contacted the sheriff’s office two days later to report the theft.
According to the victim’s statement, a man, identified in the report as Thomas Embry, had been staying at her home around the time of the theft. She added that Embry was “aware that she had a firearm” and knew where it was stored.
At around 9:55 p.m. on January 24, an MCSO deputy located Embry in the 5180 block of E Silver Springs Boulevard in Ocala. The report stated that Embry had a shopping cart with him.
Embry denied the allegations that he took the victim’s pistol. He admitted that he did previously hold the firearm at the victim’s home, and he stated that his “DNA and fingerprints will be on it,” according to the report.
Later that night, shortly before 11:50 p.m., a security guard at the Stage Stop Resort (5131 E Silver Springs Boulevard in Ocala) informed the sheriff’s office that they had received a “surrendered firearm” from a man. The report stated that the deputy responded to the hotel and confirmed that the firearm belonged to the victim.
The deputy noted in the report that the recovered firearm was in a container that had been observed in Embry’s shopping cart when the deputy made contact with him several hours earlier.
According to the report, the deputy made contact with the man who had surrendered the stolen pistol to the security guard. The man told the deputy that he had taken the firearm from Embry because of “statements [Embry] was making.”
The deputy located Embry in the 5100 block of E Silver Springs Boulevard. He was arrested and transported to Marion County Jail, where he is currently being held on $2,500 bond. He is being charged with grand theft of a firearm.
A court date has not been scheduled yet, according to jail records.