Muncie man accused of displaying gun, making threats on Facebook Live
MUNCIE, Ind. — A Muncie man prohibited from possessing guns was arrested this week after he allegedly posted images of himself on Facebook Live displaying a firearm and threatening to shoot at people.
City police were sent to Heekin Park on the afternoon of Aug. 30 after Ricky Lamiez Taylor, 24, allegedly made "threats to multiple people on Facebook," saying he would be going to the southside park "to shoot at people," according to an affidavit.
An officer wrote that Taylor appeared to be "streaming a live video" from a vehicle and at one point "reveals a black rifle-style firearm and a transparent magazine which appears to contain live rounds."
The officer wrote that Taylor "holds the rifle, pretending it is a guitar, and the firearm leaves the frame."
An officer reported finding Taylor that afternoon at a convenience store in the 900 block of East Main Street. However, the Muncie man allegedly fled from the scene in his vehicle when the officer tried to make a traffic stop.
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A brief chase ensued but Taylor was not apprehended at that time.
On Aug. 31, the Chrysler 300 vehicle Taylor had reportedly been driving was found in the 1400 block of West Kilgore Avenue.
Investigators said they found a "transparent magazine," loaded with about 18 "live rounds," in the vehicle.
Taylor was booked into the Delaware County jail on Tuesday afternoon, preliminarily charged with unlawful possession of a firearm by a serious violent felon and resisting law enforcement.
He was later released after posting a $15,000 bond. The gun charge is a Level 4 felony carrying up to 12 years in prison.
Taylor was also in police custody two days before the alleged Facebook incident.
On Aug. 28, he was arrested after a car he was driving crashed at River Road and Delaware County Road 500-W in Yorktown.
Police said a man living on Muncie's south side had reported that morning that he found a man — allegedly Taylor — in his vehicle, which was parked outside his home.
The southside resident said when he approached his vehicle, the man inside pointed a gun at him, threatened to kill him if he called police, and drove away.
Taylor was released from the Delaware County jail after that arrest when he posted a $35,000 bond.
He has since been charged with three felonies — robbery, auto theft and intimidation — in connection with those allegations. An initial hearing is set for Nov. 2 in Delaware Circuit Court 3.
The Muncie resident was sentenced to time already served in jail in January 2018 after he pleaded guilty to criminal recklessness in a Muncie man’s 2017 shooting. Because of that felony conviction, he is prohibited from possessing firearms.
In June 2018, he was convicted of assisting a criminal.
On Aug. 16, Taylor was charged in Delaware Circuit Court 2 with intimidation, a Level 6 felony carrying up to 30 months in prison, over events that allegedly took place on July 14. His initial hearing in that case is set for Thursday.
On July 19, he pleaded guilty to five charges pending against him in Madison Circuit Court 3 — resisting law enforcement, obstruction of justice, driving while suspended, reckless driving and possession of marijuana.
His sentencing hearing in the Madison County case, which was filed last December, is set for Oct. 4.
Douglas Walker is a news reporter at The Star Press. Contact him at 765-213-5851 or at dwalker@muncie.gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Muncie Star Press: Police: Muncie man displayed gun, made threats while on Facebook Live
