A Summerfield man was jailed Tuesday after allegedly pulling a gun on a Marion County sheriff’s deputy while his home was being searched for child pornography.
Sheriff’s detectives executed a warrant at Trafton Edward Waldrop’s home, located at 9797 SE 140th St., after receiving a tip from the Sumter County Sheriff’s Office. A deputy spoke with Waldrop and asked him to step outside before his home was being searched.
Waldrop came out his house wearing just boxer shorts and a tank top, so clothes were brought to him so he could wait with the deputy. Waldrop also requested to take his medication, which was brought to him along with a bottle of water. He stated several times that he should be allowed inside his residence while detectives were searching it and that his rights were being violated, a sheriff’s office report states.
Waldrop asked to use the restroom prior to the search getting under way and he was escorted inside his home. The restroom was searched to make sure there were no weapons in the room and the door was left partially ajar, the report says.
When Waldrop exited the restroom, he attempted to reach for his cell phone, which was on a bedside table, and said, “I need to call my lawyer.” The deputy placed his hand on top of the phone and told Waldrop to wait until the completion of the search.
Waldrop then “quickly turned around and reached into a plastic cabinet on a table behind him that contained several knives, a firearm and ammunition.” He allegedly grabbed a black firearm and pulled it out of the cabinet and the deputy wrapped him up in a bear hug in an attempt get him to release the weapon, the report says.
Both fell to the ground as the deputy attempted to remove the firearm from Waldrop’s hands. Detectives came into the room to assist and the deputy was able to remove the firearm from Waldrop’s hands, the report says.
Waldrop then refused to place his hands behind his back and attempted to put them underneath his body. With help from the detectives, the deputy was eventually able to put Waldrop in handcuffs. During the scuffle, Waldrop said several times, “I can’t do this. I can’t do this,” the report says, adding that the deputy was in fear that Waldrop would use the firearm to shoot him and/or other sheriff’s personnel who were in the residence.
Waldrop was placed under arrest and transported to the Marion County Jail, where he was charged with 20 counts of possession/viewing obscene material depicting child sex conduct, assault on an officer and resisting without violence. He was being held on no bond and is due in court Aug. 18 at 9 a.m. to answer to the charges.