Deputies: Man facing charges after pulling gun in traffic stop

BUNNELL, Fla. – A man who reached for a gun during a traffic stop in Flagler County has been charged with aggravated assault on a law enforcement officer, the Sheriff's Office announced Friday.

Deputies and a Bunnell officer at the scene said Alphonso Brooks seemed unusually nervous when they pulled over his black Ford sedan on North Church and East Howe streets in Bunnell after they said he committed a stop sign violation.

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They said one of the deputies deployed his K-9 partner, Valor, to check the car for drugs, and Valor alerted to possible narcotics. 

BODY CAM VIDEO: Warning -- contains explicit language

Deputies said they told Brooks to get out of the car, but as he was getting up he reached back into the driver's seat and grabbed a firearm.

One of the deputies spotted it, yelling, “Gun! Gun! Gun!” and drew his weapon.

Another deputy quickly pinned Brooks against the car and knocked the gun to the ground.

Brooks was also charged with carrying a concealed firearm, and possession of a firearm and ammunition by a felon. He has previous arrests for aggravated battery in 2002 and lewd or lascivious molestation in 1997.

Brooks was booked into the jail on $50,000 bond.

Sheriff Rick Staly commended the teamwork of the deputies and officer involved in the stop.

“This encounter could have quickly become a deputy involved shooting caused by the suspect’s actions,” Staly said. “This could have had a very different outcome with the death of Brooks or a deputy of officer.”