Jaquan Saunders released from jail on bail in relation to charge of resisting arrest without violence
The Sarasota Police Department has charged an 18-year-old Sarasota man with possession of a firearm equipped with a machine gun conversion device, the department announced late in the afternoon of July 3.
That device is “commonly referred to as a Glock Switch — an illegal modification that converts a handgun into a fully automatic weapon,” a Police Department news release explained.
Jaquan Shameek Lee Saunders, of 2011 Central Ave., was ordered held without bond in the Sarasota County Jail after being charged with the firearm count, which also marked a probation violation, his booking records show. He has been charged with two other probation violations, the booking records note.
Those other two counts involve Saunders’ alleged carrying of a concealed weapon and his alleged possession of not more than 20 grams of marijuana, the record says.
Further, he was charged with resisting an officer without violence. He was released from jail on July 2 on $1,000 bond on that charge, Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office records show.
“Saunders also made threatening statements following his arrest,” the news release adds.
An arrest warrant had been issued for Saunders on the charges of
Possession of a Machine Gun and Possession of a Firearm by an Adjudicated Delinquent, the Police Department news release reports. Those charges were issued in June, the release says. The Sarasota News Leader was unable to find any information about those cases this week when it searched the records maintained by the Office of Karen Rushing, Sarasota County clerk of the Circuit Court and county comptroller.
A News Leader review of the Clerk of Court’s Office records also found no case involving Saunders’ alleged possession of the machine gun device.
The News Leader did learn that, in November 2024, Saunders was cited for driving without a driver’s license. The citation noted that no license ever had been issued for him.
He pleaded guilty to that charge the same month, the case records noted.
Then, in February of this year, he was cited again for driving without a license. On May 19, he pleaded guilty in that case, as well, the records for that case pointed out.
A document in that case file indicated that he also has faced criminal charges in Manatee County. However, the News Leader also found no cases in the Manatee County Clerk of Court’s records involving Saunders.
Details of the arrest
The Probable Cause Affidavit related to Saunders’ arrest explains that about 3:25 p.m. on July 1, an officer with the Police Department observed Saunders on a bike on the sidewalk of the south side of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Way in Sarasota.
The officer finally was able to address Saunders “in an ally directly next to” the property located at 1424 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Way, the affidavit adds. (A number of shops stand at that location, a map shows.)
Initially, it continues, Saunders listened to the officer when asked to stop. However, when the officer approached him on foot, advising Saunders that he had a warrant for Saunders’ arrest, Saunders ended up resisting when the officer tried to pull Saunders’ arms behind Saunders’ back, the affidavit continues.
Saunders thwarted several attempts of the officer to put handcuffs on him, the affidavit indicates.
Finally, the affidavit says, the officer was able to grab Saunders around his toros and “attempted to tackle him to the ground. Saunders ended up “grabbing ahold of a nearby guardrail,” the affidavit adds, which stopped the officer from taking him to the ground.
It took two tries for the officer to tackle him, the affidavit notes. Saunders “ended up on his stomach [on the ground], and I ended up on top of him,” the officer wrote in the affidavit’s narrative.
Another officer who arrived on the scene assisted the first one with handcuffing Saunders, the affidavit says.
By the time the first officer reached the Police Department’s North Substation, Saunders “was complaining of pain in his left wrist, knee and ankle,” the affidavit adds. He also “sustained a cut to his chin and right cheek,” it notes.
Later, the officer observed visible swelling of Saunders’ left knee, the affidavit says. EMS personnel evaluated Saunders, who said he did not wish to be transported to the hospital. Instead, the affidavit notes, Saunders talked of his preference for treatment at the jail.
The investigation is continuing, the affidavit points out.