MAN SHOT DURING EXECUTION OF SEARCH WARRANT

The Volusia County Sheriff’s Office’s SWAT team executed a narcotics search warrant at 2348 Courtland Blvd., Deltona Wednesday morning at 6 a.m. Deputies knocked on the front door and announced their presence approximately 20 times and also made announcements using a patrol car’s public address system. When they got no response, the SWAT team forced entry to the house. As they cleared the residence, they found a closed bedroom door and went through. In the bedroom was Jason Tucker, 31, with a rifle in his hand and another firearm in plain sight on a nightstand. Sgt. Vidal Mejias, 35, was the first through the door and upon seeing the armed man took defensive action, shooting Tucker twice. The wounds were non-life threatening, and Tucker was airlifted by Sheriff’s Office helicopter to Halifax Health Medical Center in Daytona Beach.

It was later discovered that Tucker’s rifle was actually a realistic replica. The Florida Department of Law Enforcement is on scene and will investigate the incident, as is customary in shootings involving law enforcement officers. Mejias, a 15-year veteran of the Sheriff’s Office, is on administrative leave with pay, which is a standard procedure while the shooting is investigated. This is the first Volusia County deputy-involved shooting since December 2007.

Update 6:00 p.m.
The man shot during the attempted execution of a search warrant Wednesday morning in Deltona, Jason Tucker, will be charged by the Volusia County Sheriff’s Office with aggravated assault on a law enforcement officer, possession of marijuana under 20 grams, and possession of drug paraphernalia.

Two other people in the home, 29-year-old Judy Tucker and 31-year-old Jarvis Carr, were both charged with possession of schedule II narcotics, possession of marijuana under 20 grams, and possession of drug paraphernalia.

Deputies executed the search warrant Wednesday afternoon and found a misdemeanor amount of marijuana, small plastic bags typically used for packaging drugs for sale, scales with cocaine residue on them, other drug paraphernalia with cocaine residue on them, and two prescription pills.