05/17/17  Florida Man Arrested Outside Of Fordyce Wal-Mart

A Florida man was arrested outside Wal-Mart in Fordyce on May 9,  after he went inside the store with a handgun and was asked to leave. Upon investigation, Fordyce Criminal investigator Bryce McKinney and officer John Cutrell came in contact with 40 year old Mitchell Delos Wetherbee of Orlando, Florida standing outside a car parked on the lot. When asked if he had a pistol on him or in the vehicle, he said he did and pointed to a brown case on the floor in the backseat.

Wetherbee and a passenger in the vehicle, Tanya Worsham were checked for ID and both returned valid. A friend of the two came from the store and said he owned the vehicle and did not know Wetherbee had a weapon.

The man, identified as Michael Jones said he was a convicted felon and didn't want to get into trouble and get sent back to jail. Dispatch confirmed Jones was an active parolee with an active search waiver on file. When officers searched Jones' vehicle they found drug paraphernalia. Wetherbee told officers it all belonged to him. Wetherbee admitted to being a felon and knew he shouldn't be in possession of a gun. Jones and Worsham were released from custody.

It was confirmed that Wetherbee was a convicted felon out of Florida. He was charged with possession of a firearm by certain person, possession of meth and drug paraphernalia. Simultaneous possession of drugs and firearms, and given the location of his arrest, within a thousand feet of school grounds, he was also charged with proximity to certain facilities.