VIDEO: 18-Year-Old Forces Friend To Flee Traffic Stop At Gunpoint

DeLand, FL - An 18-year-old male with an extensive juvenile criminal record and a stolen gun is facing charges after Volusia County deputies say he held his friend at gunpoint and forced them to flee from a traffic stop. The Volusia Sheriff’s Office (VSO) says a deputy was driving on State Road 15A just after 4:00 Tuesday afternoon (June 29) when they spotted a Mercury Grand Marquis that ran from them during a previous traffic stop. When deputies attempted a traffic stop this time, they noticed a commotion inside the vehicle. “The passenger began moving back and forth in the seat consistent with an individual removing a handgun from his waist band,” the deputy wrote in his report. Both deputies on the stop “recognized the action and became terribly concerned the incident was about to result in a shootout.” After the vehicle stopped, deputies watched as the driver attempted to leave the car as the passenger grabbed him, pulled him back in, and pointed a gun at his head. Then the car took off fleeing. Law enforcement—VSO deputies and officers from the DeLand Police Department (DPD)—eventually caught up with the vehicle in a parking lot off of North Spring Garden Avenue where the driver surrendered and cooperated fully. He told law enforcement that he was trying to stop but his passenger, 18-year-old Davion Smith, jumped on top of him, pressed the gas pedal, and drove the car until they stopped. As officers and deputies spoke with the driver, Smith was spotted and detained by a DeLand police officer at a nearby storage complex. Near the vehicle the pair rode in, deputies discovered a handgun that was reported stolen in an armed robbery in DeLand in March. The suspect in that gunpoint robbery had a description similar to Smith’s. Authorities additionally found two baggies of heroin in the passenger door compartment. Per VSO, Smith is now charged with charged with kidnapping, carjacking with a firearm, carrying a concealed firearm, possession of heroin, possession of a firearm by an adjudicated delinquent, 2 counts of fleeing or attempting to elude law enforcement, grand theft of a firearm, and no valid driver’s license. According to deputies, Smith has an extensive criminal history with previous charges that include heroin trafficking, destroying evidence, grand theft, tampering with an electronic monitor, and robbery with a weapon, just to name a few. Smith was also one of nine juveniles charged with starting a riot that injured two staff members at the Volusia County Regional Detention Facility. Smith is currently charged with kidnapping, carjacking with a firearm, carrying a concealed firearm, possession of heroin, possession of a firearm by an adjudicated delinquent, 2 counts of fleeing or attempting to elude law enforcement, grand theft of a firearm, and no valid driver’s license. He remains in the Volusia County Branch Jail on no bond, pending his first appearance.